Cour de cassation (France), Première chambre civile

Cour de cassation (France), Première chambre civile

France

30 September 2020

Mme C., épouse P. v M. P.

No 19-14.761; ECLI:FR:CCASS:2020:C100557

Supreme / Highest Court

Article 5(2)

Article 15

Code de procédure civile; Code de l'organisation judiciaire

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Following the parents' separation, divorce proceedings were commenced in France. Although the children were habitually resident in France when the proceedings began, they subsequently moved lawfully to Switzerland, where they became habitually resident. The Lyon Court of Appeal retained jurisdiction over parental responsibility issues by relying on Article 8 Brussels IIa. The Cour de cassation held that, because Switzerland was not an EU Member State, the relationship was governed by the 1996 Hague Convention. Applying Article 5(2), it concluded that jurisdiction had transferred to the Swiss authorities following the lawful change of habitual residence and that the French courts were no longer competent to determine parental responsibility matters.

The Cour de cassation held that the French courts lacked jurisdiction to determine parental responsibility matters because the children's habitual residence had been lawfully transferred to Switzerland during the proceedings. Under Article 5 of the 1996 Hague Convention, jurisdiction therefore lay with the Swiss authorities. The judgment of the Lyon Court of Appeal was partially quashed.

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