OLG Karlsruhe; 2014-08-11; 18 UF 26/14
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:DE:OLGKARL:2014:0811.18UF26.14.0A
Date: 2014-08-11
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Germany

82014DE0811(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
The Amtsgericht Freiburg (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) decided, on the grounds of the well-being of the children being endangered, to remove parental custody from the children’s mother (hereinafter ‘the plaintiff’), who had earlier been entrusted with sole custody in matters relating to the right of residence, healthcare, filing applications regarding help for upbringing and participation regarding the creation of an aid plan as well as matters relating to school and nursery education.
Within the scope of this removal, custody of the plaintiff’s two children had been transferred to a supplementary guardian.
Prior to the announcement of the Court of First Instance’s resolution, the plaintiff had moved with her children to Scotland.
The plaintiff filed a complaint against the resolution with the Oberlandesgericht Karlsruhe (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’). A decision regarding the complaint has not been rendered so far.
Under Article 15 of the new Brussels II Regulation (1), the Court of Appeal asked the Haddington Sherriff Court in Scotland (hereinafter ‘the Scottish Court’) to declare itself as having jurisdiction to render the decision regarding parental custody.
In exceptional cases, a court of a Member State may ask a court of another Member State to declare itself as having jurisdiction, provided the relevant preconditions are met. This was the case in this dispute. The children have a special connection to Scotland. The plaintiff and her children left Germany for good and they were integrated into a foster family in Scotland. The father of the children had not had any contact with them for a number of years. The resolution of the Court of First Instance regarding the custody rights did not stipulate any obligation to return the children.
The Scottish Court was more suitable to find a decision in accordance with the interests of the children than the Court of Appeal.
(1) 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.