Tribunal da Relação de Coimbra; 2022-01-18; 2/20.0T8MMV.C1
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:PT:TRC:2022:2.20.0T8MMV.C1.74
Date: 2022-01-18
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Portugal

82022PT0118(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
I. The concept of ‘the place where the harmful event occurred’, as set out in Article 7(2) of the Brussels I Regulation (recast) (1), covers both the place where the damage occurred and the place of the event giving rise to it.
II. The Portuguese courts have international jurisdiction to hear and determine an action for damages in which the father of two children (hereinafter ‘the plaintiff’) seeks an order that the mother of those children (hereinafter ‘the defendant’) pay him compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage. The damage allegedly arises from the fact that the defendant abandoned her residence in Portugal and took the children with her to Spain, where she established a new residence, thereby breaching the obligations arising from the regime governing the exercise of parental responsibilities.
III. In the present case, the event giving rise to damage within the meaning of Article 7(2) of the Brussels I Regulation (recast) is ‘abandonment of residence’, which refers to the place of residence established at the time when the rules governing parental responsibility were put into effect.
(1) Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (recast).