Institute Gives Final Approval to Family Dissolution and Transnational Insolvency Projects

At the 77th Annual Meeting in Washington on May 15-18, the Institute completed its review of both Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution and the Transnational Insolvency Project, thus clearing the way for publication of the official texts for both projects.

Subject to the discussion, the membership voted to give its final approval to both Tentative Draft No. 4, which was presented at this year’s Meeting, and to the earlier Family Dissolution drafts that had been tentatively approved at previous Meetings. The entire work will now be integrated into a coherent final text, which it is hoped will be ready for publication in 2001. Tentative Draft No. 4 included controversial chapters on domestic partners and on the effect to be accorded prior agreements between the partners upon dissolution of their relationship. All motions to amend the draft were, however, defeated, including one that would have limited the project’s coverage of nonmarital relationships to those explicitly recognized by state law. Confronted with an unresolved Reportorial disagreement over whether a judicial decision to defer sale of the family home for the benefit of the child should affect the amount of the child-support obligor’s child-support payments, the members agreed to accept whatever solution was ultimately approved by the Council.

Also approved was the Tentative Draft of Principles of Cooperation in Transnational Insolvency Cases Among Members of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the second and culminating phase of the NAFTA-based Transnational Insolvency Project. Because just days before the Annual Meeting Mexico had enacted a comprehensive revision of its bankruptcy law, it was understood that it will be necessary to revise the draft to reflect this development, which should also make the draft’s recommendations of transnational cooperation easier to carry out than would have been the case under the previous Mexican law. The Phase I International Statement of Mexican Bankruptcy Law, approved by the Institute in 1998, will require more substantial revision. When final updating and revision is completed, the official texts of the Canadian, Mexican, and United States Statements will be published together with that of the Principles of Cooperation. Considerable progress has already been made in preparing Spanish translations of these volumes as well.

The 2000 Annual Meeting was also marked by the initial submissions of portions of the new Restatements of Agency and Restitution and Unjust Enrichment. Although there were lively discussions on both drafts, no votes were taken on either. There was insufficient time to complete review of Tentative Draft No. 1 of Restatement Third, Agency, and the Discussion Draft of Restatement Third, Restitution and Unjust Enrichment, was submitted for discussion only. Nonbinding sense-of-the-house votes were taken on the Discussion Draft of the new Revised Article 2 (Sales) of the Uniform Commercial Code. See the update at page 5 on the current status of Article 2. Also presented for review by the membership was a Discussion Draft of Revised Article 1 (General Principles) and a Report on the early stages of the new International Jurisdiction and Judgments Project.

A complete listing of actions taken on the drafts considered at the 2000 Annual Meeting will appear in the fall issue of the Reporter. An edited transcript of the entire Annual Meeting will subsequently be published in the 2000 Proceedings.