PIL instrument(s)

Case number and/or case name

L.M. v. V.D.Z J.B., V.D.Z. J. and Z.A. - Antwerpen, 23 December 2011

Details of the court

Belgium, Second Instance

Articles referred to by the court

Date of the judgement

22 December 2011

Appeal history

CJEU's case law cited by the court

Summary

Mr. J.B. v.d.Z. and Ms. M. L. have a child, B., who was born on 17 May 2005. In 2011, the Antwerp Youth Court granted access rights to the father and the grandparents of the child during one weekend per month and during school holidays. Ms. M. L. filed an appeal against this decision of the Antwerp Youth Court, requesting the Court to transfer the case to the Courts of ‘s Hertogenbosch in The Netherlands on the basis of Art. 15 Brussels II Regulation. During the proceedings before the court of first instance, the mother lived with her daughter in Belgium. The Belgian Court therefore accepted its jurisdiction. However, the mother and her daughter later moved to the Netherlands. All the parties are Dutch nationals and live in the Netherlands. All parties request a transfer. Therefore, the Belgian Court decides to transfer the case to the Dutch courts. The Belgian and Dutch courts had direct contact concerning the transfer (cf. Art. 15(6)). Short critique This is a good example of the mechanism to transfer the case to a court better placed to hear the case.