Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2012:255
Date: 2012-04-26
Language of the case: English
Court formation: Second Chamber
Subject matter: Area of freedom, security and justice;Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Procedure: Preliminary reference - urgent procedure
Origin: Ireland

Summary of the Judgment 1. Judicial cooperation in civil matters — Jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of decisions in matrimonial matters and in the matters of parental responsibility — Regulation No 2201/2003 — Scope — Concept of ‘civil matters’ (Council Regulation No 2201/2003, Art. 1) 2. Judicial cooperation in civil matters — Jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of decisions in matrimonial matters and in the matters of parental responsibility — Regulation No 2201/2003 — Powers — Effect of obligations arising from Article 56 of the Regulation on the adoption of a judgment on placement of a child (Council Regulation No 2201/2003, Art. 56) 3. Judicial cooperation in civil matters — Jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of decisions in matrimonial matters and in the matters of parental responsibility — Regulation No 2201/2003 — Recognition and enforcement — Scope (Council Regulation No 2201/2003, Art. 28) 4. Judicial cooperation in civil matters — Jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of decisions in matrimonial matters and in the matters of parental responsibility — Regulation No 2201/2003 — Recognition and enforcement — Conditions (Council Regulation No 2201/2003, Art. 56(2)) 1. A judgment of a court of a Member State that orders the placement of child in a secure institution providing therapeutic and educational care situated in another Member State and entails that, for her own protection, the child is deprived of her liberty for a specified period, falls within the material scope of Regulation No 2201/2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation No 1347/2000. Article 1(3)(g) of Regulation No 2201/2003 excludes from the scope of that regulation ‘measures taken as a result of criminal offences committed by children’ and, consequently, measures of detention of a child imposed as punishment for the commission of a criminal offence. A placement accompanied by measures involving deprivation of liberty falls within the scope of that regulation where that placement is ordered for the protection of the child, and not to punish the child. (see paras 65, 66, operative part 1) 2. The consent referred to in Article 56(2) of Regulation No 2201/2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation No 1347/2000, must be given, prior to the making of the judgment on placement of a child, by a competent authority, governed by public law. The fact that the institution where the child is to be placed gives its consent is not sufficient. In circumstances in which a court of a Member State which made the judgment on placement is uncertain whether a consent was validly given in the requested Member State, because it was not possible to identify with certainty the competent authority in the latter State, an irregularity may be corrected in order to ensure that the requirement of consent imposed by Article 56 of Regulation No 2201/2003 has been fully complied with. (see para. 95, operative part 2) 3. Regulation No 2201/2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation No 1347/2000, must be interpreted as meaning that a judgment of a court of a Member State which orders the compulsory placement of a child in a secure care institution situated in another Member State must, before its enforcement in the requested Member State, be declared enforceable in that Member State. In order not to deprive that regulation of its effectiveness, the decision of the court of the requested Member State on the application for a declaration of enforceability must be made with particular expedition and appeals brought against such a decision of the court of the requested Member State must not have a suspensive effect. (see para. 133, operative part 3) 4. When a judgment of a court of a Member State ordering the placement of a child in a secure care institution situated in another Member State has been adopted for a specified period of time, a consent to placement under Article 56(2) of Regulation No 2201/2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation No 1347/2000, does not apply to orders intended to extend the duration of the placement. In such circumstances, an application for a new consent must be made. A judgment on placement made in a Member State, declared to be enforceable in another Member State, can be enforced in that other Member State only for the period stated in the judgment on placement. There is no reason for granting to a judgment, when it is enforced, rights which it does not have in the Member State of origin or effects that a similar judgment given directly in the requested Member State would not have. However, a court of a Member State which contemplates the placement of a child in a secure care institution situated in another Member State may, while respecting the purpose of such placements — which is to provide for detention for a limited period and examination, at closely spaced intervals, of whether the detention should or should not be continued — request the consent for an adequate length of time, in order to eliminate the disadvantages associated with a series of consents of short duration, without prejudice to that court being entitled, within the period covered by the consent, to reduce the length of the placement, according to the best interests of the child. (see paras 140, 142, 146, operative part 4)