The Brussels II Regulation: How the European Community has Moved into Family Law

2002 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 883-908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter McEleavy
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
International Law ◽  
European Community ◽  
Family Law ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Parental Responsibility ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Significant Step ◽  
Recognition And Enforcement ◽  
Council Regulation

On 1 March 2001 Council Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000 of 29 May 2000 on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Matrimonial Matters and in Matters of Parental Responsibility for Children of both Spouses (Brussels II) entered into force.1 In the United Kingdom at least this significant step went relatively unnoticed. Nevertheless, the Regulation marks a new departure for the European Community and is likely to be but the first in a series of instruments dealing with family law issues. This article will use an analysis of the evolution of the Brussels II initiative to explore how and why the European Community has been able to move into an area not innately associated with traditional European goals.2 It will then reflect on the wider impact of the Regulation and any future initiatives for private international law and family law in Europe.

The Developing EC Private International Law on Family Matters

2001 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 373-412
Author(s):  
Peter Stone
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
European Community ◽  
Child Custody ◽  
Mutual Recognition ◽  
Broad Sense ◽  
Community Level ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Parental Responsibility ◽  
Choice Of Law ◽  
Recognition And Enforcement

The entry into force on 1st March 2001 of Regulation 1347/2000 on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Matrimonial Matters and in Matters of Parental Responsibility for Children of Both Spouses (‘the Matrimonial Regulation’) amounts to a landmark in the harmonisation of private international law at European Community level. It deals with direct judicial jurisdiction, and the mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments, but not choice of law, in respect of divorce, separation and annulment of marriage, and of custody (in a broad sense) of children of both spouses when determined on the occasion of matrimonial proceedings. It is the first EC measure to enter into force dealing with private international law in family matters, and is likely to be followed up by further such measures, especially in relation to child custody when dealt with independently of any matrimonial proceedings.

THE COMMUNITARIZATION OF DIVORCE RULES: WHAT IMPACT FOR ENGLISH AND SCOTTISH LAW?

2004 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 605-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Mceleavy
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Law ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
European Community ◽  
Family Law ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Directorate General ◽  
Council Regulation ◽  
Free Movement Of Persons

Family law may not be an area one immediately associates with the European Community but in recent years it has rapidly emerged as an important element of the ever-expanding portfolio of the Justice and Home Affairs Directorate General.1 Facilitating the circulation of family law orders through the harmonization of private international law rules is viewed in Community circles as essential if the free movement of persons is to be guaranteed within the European Union.2 The merits of this policy and the manner in which the transformation of the Brussels II Convention3 into a Council Regulation4 was used to acquire wider competence in respect of family law matters have both previously been considered.5 In the present paper such policy considerations are left aside to allow for a detailed analysis of those rules which deal with divorce and their effect on English and Scottish law.

The Developing EC Private International Law on Family Matters

2001 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 373-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Stone
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
European Community ◽  
Child Custody ◽  
Mutual Recognition ◽  
Broad Sense ◽  
Community Level ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Parental Responsibility ◽  
Choice Of Law ◽  
Recognition And Enforcement

The entry into force on 1st March 2001 of Regulation 1347/2000 on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Matrimonial Matters and in Matters of Parental Responsibility for Children of Both Spouses (‘the Matrimonial Regulation’) amounts to a landmark in the harmonisation of private international law at European Community level. It deals with direct judicial jurisdiction, and the mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments, but not choice of law, in respect of divorce, separation and annulment of marriage, and of custody (in a broad sense) of children of both spouses when determined on the occasion of matrimonial proceedings. It is the first EC measure to enter into force dealing with private international law in family matters, and is likely to be followed up by further such measures, especially in relation to child custody when dealt with independently of any matrimonial proceedings.

scholarly journals Qualification of Concepts and its Problems in Cases with Foreign Element in Poland and the United Kingdom

2013 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-74
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Bagan-Kurluta
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
International Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Functional Method ◽  
Internal Source ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Uniform Approach ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Foreign Law ◽  
The Law

Abstract Qualification is the basic instrument used in the process of application of the law. It is impossible to apply the law without conducting it. The main internal source of collision law in Poland, Act of private international law dated February 4th, 2011, does not specify how to carry on the process of the qualification, and doctrine is of the opinion that the Polish court applying foreign law should interpret the foreign concepts according to the rules of this law and give them such meanings as this law assigns to them. But also there are four doctrinal proposals concerning methods of qualification. The first one (with various modifications) is relatively popular in a number of countries, while the Polish doctrine has the greatest respect for the latter: 1) lex fori approach, 2) lex causae approach, 3) autonomous method and 4) functional method (or collision lex fori approach). The English judge applying the rules derived from his own internal law remembers about the function of private international law - and therefore takes into account the rules and institutions adopted in the foreign laws. That is application of lex fori approach modified because of the function of collision law, indeed reminiscent of a functional method. However, due to the lack of a uniform approach to qualification and identification of the only way to proceed by the doctrine and case law, it is permissible to move away from the use of this method. For instance it is possible to use the lex causae approach, if it leads to an equitable solution. Lack of regulation of qualification gives a person applying the law a freedom, but at the same time leads to uncertainty about the effects.

Corporations

2019 ◽  
pp. 334-352
Author(s):  
Adrian Briggs
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
International Law ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Insolvency Regulation ◽  
Principal Effect ◽  
European Regulations ◽  
English Law ◽  
Insolvency Proceedings

This chapter discusses the private international law of insolvency and bankruptcy. Prior to Exit Day, the private international law of insolvency and bankruptcy was covered in part by two European Regulations: the Insolvency Regulation 1346/2000, and the recast Insolvency Regulation 2015/848. According to the Insolvency (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, SI 2019 No 146, a fragment of Regulation 2015/848 is retained as English law, but otherwise it is not retained as English law. The principal effect of this is that the court will continue to have jurisdiction to open insolvency proceedings when the debtor’s centre of main interests is in the United Kingdom. Otherwise Part 1 of the Schedule to SI 2019 No 146 provides that the recast Insolvency Regulation shall not have effect in the United Kingdom. Consequential amendment is made to secondary legislation. Transitional provisions are made to provide for the continued application of the Regulations after Exit Day in the case of insolvency proceedings opened before Exit Day.

Non-Contractual Obligations

2019 ◽  
pp. 244-277
Author(s):  
Adrian Briggs
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
International Law ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
Eu Legislation ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Law ◽  
Contractual Obligations

This chapter discusses the law on non-contractual obligations. On Exit Day, and unless any further legislative provision is made, the provisions of EU law set out in the Rome II Regulation, Regulation 864/2007, will be retained as the law of the United Kingdom. The adjustments necessary to allow the Rome II Regulation to operate as English private international law are made by the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations and Non-Contractual Obligations (Amendment etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, SI 2019 No 834: these adjustments are of no substantial importance. It follows that it is possible to refer in this chapter to the Rome II Regulation without needing to draw attention to its status as EU legislation (as it was prior to Exit Day) or as retained EU legislation (as it is on and after Exit Day).

The Lex Fori

2019 ◽  
pp. 172-194
Author(s):  
Adrian Briggs
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
International Law ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
English Court ◽  
Conflict Of Laws ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Foreign Law ◽  
The Law

This chapter examines of the role of the lex fori in English private international law before proceeding to examine the rules of the conflict of laws applicable in an English court. Issues for which the rules of the conflict of laws select the lex fori as the law to be applied include grounds for the dissolution (as distinct from nullity) of marriage, even if the marriage has little or nothing to do with the United Kingdom; or settlement of the distribution of assets in an insolvency even though there may be significant overseas elements. Where the rules of the conflict of laws select a foreign law, its application, even though it is proved to the satisfaction of the court, may be disrupted or derailed by a provision of the lex fori instead. The remainder of the chapter covers procedural issues; penal, revenue, and public laws; and public policy.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-42
Author(s):  
Adrian Briggs
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
International Law ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Common ◽  
Law And Legislation

This introductory chapter begins with a brief discussion of the effect of the unexecuted decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union. If the United Kingdom were to withdraw on the terms approved by Parliament, the resulting legal framework would, in principle, be that put in place by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. That is to say, on ‘Exit Day’, the European Communities Act 1972 will be repealed. This will, at a stroke, remove the legal basis upon which a substantial body of private international law takes effect in the legal order of the United Kingdom. The chapter then sets out the book’s focus, which is the conflict of laws, followed by discussions of the common law’s conception of private international law and legislation establishing private international law as European law.

Clarkson & Hill's Conflict of Laws

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Hill ◽  
Máire Ní Shúilleabháin
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Family Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Conflict Of Laws ◽  
European Legislation ◽  
Recognition And Enforcement ◽  
Theoretical Issues

Clarkson & Hill's Conflict of Laws, now in its fifth edition, provides a clear and up-to-date account of private international law topics. Theoretical issues and fundamental principles are introduced in the first chapter and expanded upon in later chapters. Basic principles of the conflict of laws are presented, offering clarity on complex points and terminology. The fifth edition reflects the field's changing focus from case law to domestic and European legislation, incorporating the Brussels I Regulation and Brussels II Revised Regulation, as well as the more recent Rome Regulations and Brussels I Recast. Embracing this reorientation of the field and increased emphasis on the recognition and enforcement of judgments, the chapters provide detailed commentary on the most important commercial topics as well as the most relevant topics in family law.

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