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Cf. Expert opinion of Nigel Cantwell provided by affidavit on May 5, 2017 (evidence file, folio 6941).
The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption is applicable in the following OAS States: (1) Bolivia (July 1,
2002); (2) Belize (April 1, 2006); (3) Brazil (July 1, 1999); (4) Canada (April 1, 1997); (5) Chile (November 1, 1999);
(6) Colombia (November 1, 1998); (7) Costa Rica (February 1, 1996); (8) Cuba (June 1, 2007); (9) Dominican Republic
(March 1, 2007); (10) Ecuador (January 1, 1996); (11) El Salvador (March 1, 1999); (12) Guatemala (March 1, 2003);
(13) Haiti (April 1, 2014); (14) Mexico (May 1, 1995); (15) Panama (January 1, 2000); (16) Paraguay (September 1,
1998); (17) Peru (January 1, 1996); (18) United States of America (April 1, 2008); (19) Uruguay (April 1, 2004), and
(20) Venezuela (May 1, 1997). The dates correspond to the entry into force of the treaty for each State.
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Cf. Expert opinion of Nigel Cantwell provided by affidavit on May 5, 2017 (evidence file, folio 6940). The preamble
to the Hague Convention establishes that it desires “to establish common provisions […], taking into account the
principles set forth in international instruments, in particular the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, of
20 November 1989, and the United Nations Declaration on Social and Legal Principles relating to the Protection and
Welfare of Children, with Special Reference to Foster Placement and Adoption Nationally and Internationally (General
Assembly Resolution 41/85, of 3 December 1986).” Preamble to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in respect of Intercountry Adoption.
372
Cf. UNICEF, International Child Development Center. Innocenti digest No. 4: Intercountry adoption, 1999, p. 5.
Also, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has recommended to several States Parties to the Convention on the
Rights of the Child that they adopt the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of
Intercountry Adoption for this reason. In this regard, see, UN, Committee on the Rights of the Child, Report to the UN
General Assembly, May 8, 2000, UN Doc. A/55/41(SUPP).
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According to article 44 of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, States that are not Members of the
Hague Conference on Private International Law “may accede to the Convention after it has entered into force,” and
“[s]uch accession shall have effect only as regards the relations between the acceding State and those Contracting
States which have not raised an objection to its accession in the six months after the receipt of the notification referred
to in sub-paragraph b) of Article 48. Such an objection may also be raised by States at the time when they ratify, accept
or approve the Convention after an accession. Any such objection shall be notified to the depositary.” In the case of
Guatemala, five States (Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland) raised objections to its accession owing to the failure to adapt its domestic laws to the obligations arising from
the treaty; therefore, the convention has not entered into force between those States and Guatemala. Cf. Status table:
Declaration/reservation/notification.
Available
at:
https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/
statustable/notifications/?csid=767&disp=type.
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