Article 4 - Prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
Article 6 - Right to liberty and security
Article 24 - The rights of the child
Key facts of the case:
Reference for a preliminary ruling — Urgent preliminary ruling procedure — Judicial cooperation in civil matters — Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 — Article 8(1) — Jurisdiction in matters of parental responsibility — Concept of ‘habitual residence of the child’ — Requirement of physical presence — Detention of the mother and child in a third country against the will of the mother — Infringement of the fundamental rights of the mother and child.
Outcome of the case:
On those grounds, the Court (First Chamber) hereby rules:
Article 8(1) 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, must be interpreted to the effect that a child must have been physically present in a Member State in order to be regarded as habitually resident in that Member State, for the purposes of that provision. Circumstances such as those in the main proceedings, assuming that they are proven, that is to say, first, the fact that the father’s coercion of the mother had the effect of her giving birth to their child in a third country where she has resided with that child ever since, and, secondly, the breach of the mother’s or the child’s rights, do not have any bearing in that regard.
64) Finally, the protection of the best interests of the child, guaranteed by Article 24 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and respect for the fundamental rights of the child, as laid down in Articles 4, 6 and 24 of that Charter, do not require an interpretation that differs from the one set out in paragraphs 52 and 53 above.
