Hague Divorce Convention
The Hague Divorce Convention, officially Convention on the Recognition of Divorces and Legal Separations is a convention concluded by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. It regulates the recognition of divorces and legal separations provided they have been performed according to the correct legal process in the state where the divorce was obtained. Not all divorces need to be recognized under the convention. Only those divorces obtained in a state where ;
- the "respondent" had its residence
- the "petitioner" had his residence
- corresponds to the nationality of both spouses
- corresponds to the nationality of the petitioner and where he lived, or had lived for 1 year in the past 2 years
- corresponds to the nationality of the petitioner, and where he is present, while the last state of their joint residence does not provide for divorce
Parties
As of March 2013, 20 states were parties to the convention. The parties are all in Europe, except Australia, Egypt and Hong Kong. The convention is open to all countries. Countries that signed the convention, became a Party by subsequent ratification. Other countries can accede to the convention. When a country ratifies, it automatically becomes applicable between all countries that are party to the convention, whereas the accession only becomes applicable when the other country accepts that accession. Regarding members of the European Union, the Brussels II regulation supersedes the convention. The UK government has stated that in the event of withdrawal from the European Union in March 2019 without a treaty, the UK would continue to use the Hague Divorce Convention to recognise overseas divorces.| Country | Signature | Ratification/Accession | Remarks |
| Albania | |||
| Australia | Australian States and mainland Territories and Norfolk Islands | ||
| China | Only with respect to Hong Kong | ||
| Cyprus | |||
| Czech Republic | succession from Czechoslovakia | ||
| Denmark | |||
| Egypt | |||
| Estonia | |||
| Finland | |||
| Italy | |||
| Luxembourg | |||
| Moldova | |||
| Netherlands | European territory and Aruba | ||
| Norway | |||
| Poland | |||
| Portugal | |||
| Slovakia | succession from Czechoslovakia | ||
| Sweden | |||
| Switzerland | |||
| United Kingdom | Extended to Bermuda, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man |