Case number and/or case name
Unknown - 09/243/A - Civ. Liège, 17 February 2009
Details of the court
Belgium, First Instance
Articles referred to by the court
Brussels IIa
Article 3
Paragraph 1
SubParagraph a
Indent 1
Date of the judgement
16 February 2009
CJEU's case law cited by the court
Summary
The parties apply for a divorce for inconsolable differences established by a de facto separation of more than six months (Art. 223 § 2 Belgian Civil Code). Both spouses were born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and have Congolese nationality, but are habitually resident in Belgium so that the Court withholds its jurisdiction on the basis of Art. 3(1)(a), first indent Brussels IIa. The Court pronounces the divorce between the parties. The Court also grants judicial approval of the agreement regarding the provisional measures which the parties had reached between themselves.
SHORT CRITIQUE
The Court correctly applies the Brussels IIa Regulation. The Regulation applies even if the parties are non-EU nationals. They were both habitually resident in Belgium.