Hague Convention: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

The longtime status of Netherlands as a largely neutral nation in international conflicts and the corresponding ascendance of The Hague as a primary location for diplomatic and international conferences has led to several negotiated conventions over the years being termed the Hague Convention:

• The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, agreements providing, among others things, regulations for the commencement of hostilities and conduct of belligerents and neutral powers towards each other and other nations, and outlawing the use of certain types of weapons in warfare.
• The Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (signed May 14, 1954; entered into force August 7, 1956), requiring its signatories to avoid damaging culturally significant sites during wartime.
• The Hague Conference on Private International Law, an international treaty organization that oversees a series of dozens of Coventions, drawn up from the early 1900s through the present day aiming to rationalize certain aspects of civil law between signatories. The various Conventions deal with the recognition of marriages performed in another country, international child abduction, international adoption, recognition of other countries' official documents, and the rationalization of some financial laws, among numerous other issues. One of the better known of these is Convention #12, the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents.