PIL instrument(s)

Case number and/or case name

M.J. v. A. M. M. - 09/4265/A - Trib. Liège, 24 November 2009

Details of the court

Belgium, First Instance

Articles referred to by the court

Date of the judgement

23 November 2009

Appeal history

CJEU's case law cited by the court

Summary

The applicant asks for the divorce of the parties on the grounds of inconsolable differences, established by a de facto separation of over one year (cf. Art. 229 § 3 Belgian Civil Code). The Court of First Instance states that the Belgian Courts have jurisdiction, on the basis of Art. 3(1)(a), fourth indent Brussels IIa, since the applicant resided there for at least a year immediately before the application was made. The last habitual residence of the spouses was in Pakistan and the current residence of the defendant is not known. On the domestic level, none of the connecting factors provided by the Belgian Judicial Code link this case to Belgium. The same factor as for the international jurisdiction of the courts can be used by analogy. Since the applicant is domiciled in Liège, the courts of Liège are competent. SHORT CRITIQUE The Court refers to Art. 3(1)(a), fourth indent Brussels IIa, but actually applies Art. 3(1)(a), fifth indent. Other than that, its application of the Regulation is correct. The Court uses the same criterion to establish its territorial jurisdiction by default, since non of the connecting factors provided by the Belgian Judicial Code can be applied in casu.