Melisa vs. Bienvenido.Roj: SAP M 12769/2009 - ECLI:ES:APM:2009:12769
Details of the court
Spain, Second Instance
Articles referred to by the court
Brussels IIa
Article 3
Paragraph 1
SubParagraph a
Indent 1
Paragraph 1
SubParagraph a
Indent 2
Paragraph 1
SubParagraph a
Indent 3
Paragraph 1
SubParagraph a
Indent 4
Paragraph 1
SubParagraph a
Indent 5
Paragraph 1
SubParagraph a
Indent 6
Article 7
Paragraph 1
Date of the judgement
26 May 2009
Appeal history
None
CJEU's case law cited by the court
None
Summary
Conflict of jurisdiction raised before Spanish courts and resolved on the basis of Brussels II a Regulation provisions.
Key facts: Divorce case transacted in Spain.The plaintiff alleges that Spanish courts are not competent to decide on the divorce because the defendant has his habitual residence in Rome (Italy) and not in Madrid (Spain).
Court decision: the court decides that the competent jurisdiction must be determined according to art. 3.1 a) of Brussels II a Regulation. If this is not possible, the competence must be defined according to art. 7.1 of that Regulation, which refers to national laws.
According to that article and also Spanish law, Spanish courts are competent to decide on the case: the defendant has proved that his habitual residence was in Spain. The fact that he has been living in Italy for a short period of time was only due to professional reasons.
The court applies correctly the general rules on jurisdiction in matters relating to divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment. The court took into account Brussels II a Regulation provisions on jurisdiction that shall lie with the courts of the Member State in whose territory the respondent is habitually resident.
Appeal history (not available in the database):
Court decision: Juzgado de 1ª Instancia nº 25 de Madrid (Spain) (First instance)
Date:25-02-2008