The Hague Conventions

In addition to the Statute of the Hague Conference, Ireland is a state party to ten instruments elaborated under the auspices of the Hague Conference, either on the basis of ratification or accession by Ireland or as a result of approval or accession by the EU of the instrument.

Provision in law for the obligations assumed by the State pursuant to the 1961 Convention was made by Part VIII of the Succession Act 1965. Ireland acceded to the Convention on 3 August 1967 and it entered into force with respect to the State on 2 October 1967.

The Convention was signed on behalf of Ireland on 29 October 1996. Provision in law for the obligations assumed by the State pursuant to the Convention was made by the Superior Court Rules Amendment Nº 3 - Rules of the Superior Courts (Nº1) (Proof of Foreign Diplomatic, Consular and Public Documents) 1999. It was ratified on 8 January 1999 and entered into force with respect to the State on 9 March 1999. Upon ratification, pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article 6 of the Convention, Ireland designated the Consular Section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as the authority competent to issue the certificate known as the “apostille”.

The requirement for legalisation of certain foreign public documents has been completely abolished as between Ireland and other contracting parties pursuant to the terms of the Convention Abolishing Legalisation of Documents in Member States of the European Communities which was done at Brussels on 25 May 1987.

The Convention was signed on behalf of Ireland on 20 October 1989. Provision in law for the obligations assumed by the State pursuant to the Convention was made by the Rules of Courts. It was ratified on 5 April 1994 and entered into force with respect to the State on 4 June 1994. The Master of the High Court (address: The Four Courts, Inns Quay, Dublin 7) has been designated as the Central Authority for Ireland in accordance with Article 2 of the Convention and, pursuant to Article 6, is the appropriate authority for completion of certificates in the form of the model annexed to the Convention. Upon ratification Ireland made the following declarations and objections:

Article 3: The authority or judicial officer competent under the laws of Ireland for the purpose of Article 3 of the Convention are the Central Authority, a practising Solicitor, a County Registrar or a District Court Clerk.”

Article 15: “Pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 15 a Judge in Ireland may give judgment even if no certificate of service or delivery has been received, if the conditions set out in the second paragraph of Article 15 of the Convention are fulfilled.”

Article 10: “In accordance with the provision in Article 10 of the Convention the Government of Ireland objects to (i) the freedom under Article 10(b) of judicial officers, officials or other competent persons of the State of origin to effect service in Ireland of judicial documents directly through judicial officers, officials or other competent persons and (ii) the freedom under Article 10(c) of any person interested in a judicial proceeding to effect service in Ireland of judicial documents directly through judicial officers, officials or other competent persons, but this is not intended to preclude any person in another Contracting State who is interested in a judicial proceeding (including his lawyer) from effecting service in Ireland directly through a solicitor in Ireland.”

As envisaged by Article 11, arrangements for the direct transmission of requests for the service of documents to Central authorities have been made between EU Member States. Regulation (EU) 2020/1784 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (service of documents) (recast) has replaced, as between EU Member States, the arrangements provided for by the Hague Convention of 1965.

The Convention was signed on behalf of Ireland on 23 May 1990 and by the provisions of the Child Abduction and Enforcement of Custody Orders Act 1991 was given the force of law in the State. It was ratified on 16 July 1991 and entered into force with respect to Ireland on 1 October 1991. Pursuant to Section 4 of the Act of 1991, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade is empowered to declare by order which are the contracting States to the Convention. In accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 6 of the Convention, the Department of Justice has been designated as the Central Authority of Ireland.

The Convention was ratified by Ireland on 28 July 2010, and it entered into force with respect to Ireland on 1 November 2010. The Convention is given the force of law in Irish law under section 9 of the Adoption Act 2010, which was commenced on 1 November 2010. The Adoption Authority of Ireland is the competent national authority for the purposes of the Convention.

The Convention was ratified by Ireland on 30 September 2010 and entered into force with respect to Ireland on 1 January 2011. The Convention is given the force of law in Irish law under section 2 of the Protection of Children (Hague Convention) Act 2000, which was commenced on 1 January 2011. The Convention is broad in scope, covering a wide range of civil measures of protection concerning children, from orders concerning parental responsibility and contact to public measures of protection or care, and from matters of representation to the protection of children’s property.

The Central Authority for International Child Protection is Department of Justice.

Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements, done 30 June 2005

The EU approved the Convention on 11 June 2015 and Ireland is bound as a result of that approval. It entered into force on 1 October 2015. The Convention was given effect in Ireland by section 3(1) of the Choice of Court (Hague Convention) Act 2015.

Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, done 23 November 2007

The EU approved the Convention on 9 April 2014 and Ireland is bound as a result of that approval. It entered into force on 1 August 2014. S.I. No. 594/2019 - European Union (Hague Maintenance Convention) Regulations 2019 ensures the Convention has an appropriate “fit” in the Irish system.

Protocol on the Law Applicable to Maintenance Obligations, done 23 November 2007

The EU approved the Protocol on 8 April 2010 and Ireland is bound as a result of that approval. It entered into force on 1 August 2013.

Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters, done 2 July 2019

The EU acceded to this Convention on 29 August 2022 and Ireland is bound as a result of that accession. It will enter into force on 1 September 2023.

The Hague Conference on Private International Law contains a comprehensive guide to the operation of the Convention and to related matters.

The Law Reform Commission of Ireland has produced a number of reports on Conventions of the Hague Conference and these, together with its reports on other aspects of Conflicts of Laws, may be accessed on its website.