PH to accede to Hague Service Convention, say

MANILA -- The Philippines will soon accede to the Hague Service Convention, a treaty that simplifies the process of serving court documents on parties living in another state, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo Malaya bared

Thursday. The future accession of the country to the Hague Service Convention, or the Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters, would follow the Apostille Convention’s entry into force between the Philippines and other state parties last May. “The Service of Process Convention will address court delays and simplify the serving of summons and other court documents in a foreign jurisdiction,” Malaya told reporters in an interview on the sidelines of the 7th Biennial Conference of the Asian Society of International Law in Manila. He said the Philippines hopes to accede to the treaty “in the next few months.” At present, the DFA is closely coordinating and is in consultation with the Supreme Court about it, he noted. “We will become a state party to that and that could be a big help to the judiciary and bring a lot of benefits to Filipinos who may be having cases in court. So there are a lot of practical benefits,” Malaya said. Malaya said this is only among the several treaties Manila plans to endorse. During the event, Malaya also led the launch of three books on international law -- the “Philippine Yearbook of International Law”; “Treaties: Guidance to Practices and Procedures”; and “Enhancing International Legal Cooperation: Extradition, Mutual Legal Assistance, Transfer of Sentenced Persons, and Cooperation in Transnational Organized Crimes and Narcotic Drugs (Treaties, Laws and Procedures)”, all newly published by the University of the Philippines Law Center’s Information and Publication Division. The books were presented by UP College of Law Dean Fides Cordero-Tan to International Court of Justice (ICJ) Judge Iwasawa Yuji, the first sitting ICJ Judge to visit the Philippines. The book “Treaties: Guidance on Practices and Procedures” is an exposition on the concept of treaty, the roles and mandates of the DFA and other entities involved in treaty-making, and the stages of treatymaking. Malaya said the launch of these books reflects the “vibrancy of the legal research and interests” of legal practitioners in the Philippines. (PNA)