Summary
Pursuant to Article 3(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003, Italian courts have jurisdiction over a divorce proceedings between an Italian wife and a United States husband if, at the time the claim is lodged, the wife has re-established her habitual residence in Italy for more than six months. Pursuant to Articles 5(1)(c) and 7(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1259/2010, the choice made in writing by both spouses in favour of the national law of one of them as the law that governs the divorce is valid. Pursuant to Article 14(c) of Regulation (EU) No 1259/2010, when the spouses choose as the governing law the law of a non-unified legal system (in the instant case, the U.S.A.), the governing law shall be the one of the State with which the spouses had the strongest connection (in the instant case, the State of Pennsylvania). Pennsylvania’s divorce law – which allows, subject to certain conditions, the dissolution of the marriage without previous legal separation – does not conflict with public policy. Pursuant to Articles 29(2) and 30(1) of Law No 218/1995, the law that governs marital property of spouses having different nationalities in a divorce proceedings is the law where the matrimonial life was mainly located.
Note: within this proceeding, the Court allowed the choice of applicable law to be manifested by one of the spouses via email, pursuant to Art 7(1) of regulation (UE) No 1259/2010, which reads: «[a]ny communication by electronic means which provides a durable record of the agreement shall be deemed equivalent to writing».