CJEU - C 491/10 PPU / Judgment

Joseba Androni Aguirre Zarraga v Simone Pelz
Deciding body type
Court of Justice of the European Union
Deciding body
European Court of Justice (First Chamber)
Type
Decision
Decision date
22/12/2010
  • CJEU - C 491/10 PPU / Judgment
    Key facts of the case:
     
    A Spanish man and a German woman settled, after marriage, in Spain, where also their common daughter was born and brought up. After divorce having taken place some years later, the competent Spanish court granted, provisionally, custody to the father, while the mother returned to Germany. She was visited there by her daughter who, after the end of summer holidays, did not return to Spain.
    Subsequently started proceedings both in Spain and Germany with regard to the question of return or non-return of the child. Finally, the German court of appeal in the proceedings concerning recognition of a certificate within the meaning of Article 42 of Regulation No 2201/2003 decided to refer to CJ.
     
    Results (sanctions) and key consequences of the case:
     
    In circumstances such as those of the main proceedings, the court with jurisdiction in the Member State of enforcement cannot oppose the enforcement of a certified judgment, ordering the return of a child who has been wrongfully removed, on the ground that the court of the Member State of origin which handed down that judgment may have infringed Article 42 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 of 27 November 2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000, interpreted in accordance with Article 24 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, since the assessment of whether there is such an infringement falls exclusively within the jurisdiction of the courts of the Member State of origin."