On 8 May 1979, in Montevideo, the Second Inter-American Specialized Conference on Private International Law adopts the Inter-American Convention on Extraterritorial Validity of Foreign Judgments and Arbitral Awards.

The text regulates recognition and enforcement in OAS member states of foreign judgments and arbitral awards, subject to conditions of jurisdiction, notice and public policy. Depositary: OAS General Secretariat; languages: English, French, Portuguese and Spanish.

Entry into force: 14 June 1980 after two ratifications. Signatories: 18; parties: 10 (including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Bolivia).

The Convention completes the CIDIP network of inter-American private-law instruments and articulates with the 1958 New York Convention on arbitral awards.

The official text is on the OAS site (treaty B-41). For Latin American commercial justice, Montevideo 1979 remains a milestone in the circulation of judgments.

States that signed without ratifying (Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala and others) show the political limits of mutual recognition.

The Inter-American Convention of 8 May 1979 remains the OAS framework for extraterritorial validity of judgments and awards.

Image: Montevideo; Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Inter-American Convention on Extraterritorial Validity of Foreign Judgments. Treaty text: Inter-American Convention B-41 (OAS).