About ASADIP

During the celebration of the First Inter-American Specialized Conferences on Private International Law (CIDIP I), held on Panama on the month of January 1975, and which meant the start of a new stage in the rich history of codification of private international law in America, Professor Haroldo Valladão, delegate of Brazil, proposed the creation of an association that would bring together all the specialists in private international law of the Americas.

The initiative was well received by attendees and thus was the 30th of January 1975 that the Interamerican Association of Private International Law Professors (AIPDIP) was created. In the bylaws approved at the time, the city of Asunción (Paraguay) was designated the seat for the General Secretariat of the AIPDIP. Notwithstanding the enthusiasm of the beginning, the AIPDIP failed to keep active, mostly due to the disappearance of his mentor.

Already entered in the XXI century, with six editions of the CIDIP and 25 legal texts adopted in its midst, (21 conventions, 2 protocols, 1 model law and 1 uniform document), Professor Tatiana B. de Maekelt took the initiative to propose founding members of the AIPDIP the “refound” of the same. So, after an elaborate dissemination and an abroad call, the (Re) Founding Assembly met in the city of Asunción, on October 5, 2007.

The assembly approved new bylaws upholding the spirit of those approved in 1975 and created The American Association of Private International Law (ASADIP). The two changes of name in relation to its predecessor are easily explained. First, the definition of “american” instead of “interamerican” was preferred to indicate that the ASADIP is not exclusively linked to the activities of the Organization of American States (institution to which said adjective is always related), but its object is broader and more varied, covering the areas of national, subregional, and transnational legal production. Furthermore, the elimination of the term “professors” has its rationale in the choice of the opening of the new Association to all interested in private international law, beyond performing a particular academic activity or having the title of professor.

The Founding Assembly chose the ASADIP authorities for the period 2007/2010, i.e., the members of the Council, the Honorary President, and the President of the Advisory Committee. The Council, in turn, appointed the Directors of the study commissions.

As in 1975 and as another sign of continuity with the AIPDIP, ASADIP’s seat was established at Asunción. There, in close collaboration with the Center of Law, Economics, and Politic Studies (CEDEP), the Association’s website has been developed (www.asadip.org) and is now in full activity.