The International Court of Justice meets today in special session to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the international judicial system. Just over fifty years ago, on 15 February 1922, the Permanent Court of International Justice held its inaugural sitting here in the Great Hall of Justice at the Peace Palace, under the presidency of the eminent Dutch jurist, B. C. J. Loder, and in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen of the Netherlands, Her Majesty The Queen Mother and His Royal Highness The Prince of the Netherlands, and of the Diplomatic Corps, representatives of the League of Nations and members of the Dutch Government.

The last decade has seen a most encouraging territorial extension of the application of the Hague Conventions. This may, to some extent, be attributed to the efforts of Member States to extend the application of such treaties to territories for the international relations of which they are responsible. The United Kingdom has been particularly active in this respect, extending the application of the Convention on the Conflict of Laws Relating to the Form of Testamentary Dispositions to 28 territories, and that Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents to 34 territories. Whilst this adds a new dimension to the Conventions, it does pose problems when the territories become independent.

I am greatly honoured by your invitation, and make today what is for me a very happy return to lecture in the University of Amsterdam. It is tempting for a visiting foreigner on such an occasion to speak of the Netherlands as a centre of international law, both public and private, mentioning a few names such as those of Hugo Grotius, the International Court of Justice, the Hague Academy of International Law and the Hague Conference of Private International Law. I do not propose to indulge in remarks of that kind beyond saying that through the Hague Conference of Private International Law and the friendship both of its present President, Professor de Winter, and his eminent predecessor, the Netherlands have become for me very much a personal as well as a professional academic home.

Le droit international privé écrit néerlandais ne contient pas de règle spécifique relative à l'autorité parentale ou à la tutelle. Considérant que ces matières relèvent du statut personnel, la pratique a élaboré certaines règles de conflit a partir du principe de la nationalité énoncé à l'art. 6 de la “Loi contenant les dispositions générales de la législation du Royaume”, du 15 mai 1829.