IRO/1/89
HAGUE CONVENTION ON THE LAW OF TRUSTS
SPEAKING NOTE: 5 JANUARY 1989
Annex B
Handed over to the Chinese side on 5.1.1989
1.
The Convention on the law applicable to trusts and on their
recognition was adopted by the Hague Conference on Private
International Law in 1984. The UK signed the Convention on
10 January 1986 and now plans to ratify it. It is intended that
Hong Kong should be included in the UK's ratification or have the
Convention extended to it subsequently.
2.
The Convention specifies the law applicable to trusts and
governs their recognition. For the purposes of the Convention,
the term "trust" refers to the legal relationship created by a
person, the settlor, when assets have been placed under the control
of the trustee for the benefit of a beneficiary or for a specified
purpose.
3.
The Convention provides that a trust shall be governed by the
law chosen by the settlor or, in the absence of such a choice, by
the law with which it is most closely connected: and for trusts
created in accordance with the Convention to be recognised.
4. It is in Hong Kong's interest for the Convention to be applied
to Hong Kong so that a settlor who wishes to create a trust in
Hong Kong may choose the applicable law to govern the trust and
benefit from its recognition in territories that are parties to
the Convention.
SANTOS EN DE 18,21