EUPillar A. G. v. A. A. - 2006/JR/34 - Bruxelles, 28 November 2006

Summary

The procedure relates to the abduction of a child to Belgium by her father. The mother resides in Portugal. Both spouses have Portuguese nationality. Before the parties separated, the mother lived in Portugal with the child, while the father worked in Brussels and regularly went back and forth between Belgium and Portugal. On 30 June 2005, the mother went to live at a different address in Portugal with the child. On 4 November 2005, the father took his daughter with him to Belgium. The mother initiated proceedings in Portugal on 12 December 2005. The Portuguese court awarded her main custody of the child. Previously, on 30 November 2005, the father had seised the Juvenile Court in Brussels. The first judge declined jurisdiction in a judicial decision of 1 February 2006, pursuant to Art. 8 Brussels IIa. At the time the court was seised, the child was habitually resident in Portugal. The Belgian public prosecutor also initiated proceedings on the basis of the 1980 Hague Convention to obtain the return of the child. This was followed by a return order on 21 June 2006. In reality, the child had already been returned on 6 June 2006. The father still appealed in the Belgian proceedings and renews his claim for sole custody and parent responsibility. The mother did not appear before the Court of Appeal. The father alleges that the mother had agreed to the removal of the child. He doesn’t submit any proof, and in any event the Court of Appeal is bound by the return order of 21 June 2006 which establishes the wrongful character of the removal. The Court therefore declines jurisdiction on the basis of Art. 10 Brussels IIa. The Portuguese courts have jurisdiction.