FINAL ACT
OF THE FIFTEENTH SESSION OF THE HAGUE CONFERENC
ON PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW INCLUDING A DRAFT CONVENTION AND DECISIONS
The undersigned, Delegates of the Governments of Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, the Arab Republic of Egypt, Finland, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela and Yugoslavia, and the Representative of the Government of Panama participating as Observer, convened at The Hague on the 8th October 1984, at the invitation of the Government of the Netherlands, in the Fifteenth Session of the Hague Conference on Private International Law.
Following the deliberations laid down in the records of the meetings, have decided to submit to their Governments--
A. THE FOLLOWING DRAFT CONVENTION-
CONVENTION ON THE LAW APPLICABLE TO TRUSTS AND ON
THEIR RECOGNITION
The States signatory to the present Convention,
Considering that the trust, as developed in courts of equity in common law jurisdictions and adopted with some modifications in other jurisdictions, is a unique legal institution,
Desiring to establish common provisions on the law applicable to trusts and to deal with the most important issues concerning the recognition of trusts,
Have resolved to conclude a Convention to this effect, and have agreed upon the following provisions-
CHAPTER ONE-SCOPE
ARTICLE 1
This Convention specifies the law applicable to trusts and governs their recognition.
ARTICLE 2
For the purposes of this Convention, the term "trust' refers to the legal relationships created-inter vivos or on death-by a person, the settlor, when assets have been placed under the control of a trustee for the benefit of a beneficiary or for a specified purpose.
A trust has the following characteristics-
(a) the assets constitute a separate fund and are not a part of the
trustee's own estate;
4