Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2015:428
Date: 2015-06-25
Language of the case: Czech
Subject matter: Area of freedom, security and justice;Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Czechia

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 6 October 2015 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’ — Measures relating to the exercise of parental responsibility — Approval of an agreement for the sharing-out of an estate concluded by the guardian ad litem on behalf of minor children — Included — Regulation No 650/2012 not applicable (Council Regulation No 2201/2003, Art. 1(1)(b) and (3)(f)) 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 — Jurisdiction in matters of parental responsibility Approval of an agreement for the sharing-out of an estate concluded by the guardian ad litem on behalf of minor children — Jurisdiction of the court dealing with the matters relating to succession — Court not being the court of the child’s habitual residence — No effect (Council Regulation No 2201/2003, Art. 12(1) and (3)) 1. 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 the approval of an agreement for the sharing-out of an estate concluded by a guardian ad litem on behalf of minor children constitutes a measure relating to the exercise of parental responsibility, within the meaning of Article 1(1)(b) thereof and thus falls within the scope of the latter, and not a measure relating to succession, within the meaning of Article 1(3)(f) of that regulation, which is excluded from its scope. Legal capacity and the associated representation issues must be assessed in accordance with their own criteria and are not to be regarded as preliminary issues dependent on the legal acts in question. Therefore, the appointment of a guardian for the minor children and the review of the exercise of his activity are so closely connected that it would not be appropriate to apply different jurisdictional rules, which would vary according to the subject matter of the relevant legal act. Therefore, the fact that the approval of such an agreement for the sharing-out of an estate by the court dealing with guardianship matters has been requested in succession proceedings cannot be regarded as decisive as to whether that measure should be classified as falling within the law on succession. The need to obtain approval from the court dealing with guardianship matters is a direct consequence of the status and capacity of minor children and constitutes a protective measure for the child relating to the administration, conservation or disposal of the child’s property in the exercise of parental responsibility within the meaning of Article 1(1)(b) and 2(e) of Regulation No 2201/2003. (see paras 30, 31, 38, operative part) 2. According to Article 12(3) 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, the courts of a Member State also have jurisdiction in relation to parental responsibility in proceedings other than those referred to in paragraph 1 of that article where, first, the child has a substantial connection with that Member State, in particular by virtue of the fact that one of the holders of parental responsibility is habitually resident in that Member State or that the child is a national of that Member State, and, second, the jurisdiction of the courts has been accepted expressly or otherwise in an unequivocal manner by all the parties to the proceedings at the time the court is seised and is in the best interests of the child. In the case of the approval of an agreement for the sharing-out of an estate concluded by the guardian ad litem on behalf of minor children, which is necessary according to the law of the requested Member State in order for that agreement to be valid, Article 12(3) of Regulation No 2201/2003 is capable of founding the jurisdiction of the court dealing with the matters relating to succession to approve the agreement on the sharing-out of the estate, even though that court is not the court of the child’s habitual residence, as long as the abovementioned conditions are fulfilled. (see paras 36, 37)