New EU act on family matters

Jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and matters of parental responsibility are currently governed by Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 of 27 November 2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000.

However, as early as next year, this act will be repealed by a new regulation concerning jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility and on international child abduction, which entails significant changes.

One of them is to add to the recitals of the act provisions on the consideration by the courts at the earliest stage of the proceedings concerning the placement of a child in care facility or foster care, the right of the child to maintain its identity and the right to maintain contact with the parents or, where applicable, with other relatives. These provisions are regulated by another international act, the United Nations Convention concerning the Rights of the Child. Therefore, in a situation where a court of a European Union Member State has information about a child’s close relationship with another Member State, the court should apply to the consular post of that Member State (if the procedure of the Vienna Convention concerning Consular Relations of 1963 applies to the circumstances), as well as that court will be able to refer to another central authority of that Member State in order to obtain more information about the relationship that connects the child with that State. At the same time, it should be noted that the discussed regulation is not intended to oblige the courts to place a child in another Member State. The introduction of the regulation in question is intended to contribute to the enhancement and strengthening of the respect for the rights of the child to his or her identity and to comply in a greater degree the provisions of the above-mentioned consular convention, as well as the UN convention on the rights of the child.