Cross-border family disputes - for professionals 

While alternative dispute resolution can be faster, less costly and more efficient both for the families involved, but also for our European courts, only few parental abduction cases go to mediation.

The Coordinator supports mediation as a viable and efficient way to solve cross-border family disputes. In cases of parental child abduction, the decision of a court on the return of a child is often only the beginning of long legal battles that can accompany a child until adulthood and can have a detrimental effect on the child’s development and well-being.

Mediation can help avoid long and costly court battles by assisting parents to reach a joint decision to either ensure the early return of the child or prevent the unnecessary relocation of the child. It can also enable parents to find long lasting solutions for custody arrangements.

Regulation 2019/1111 of 25 June 2019 on jurisdiction, the recognition and enforcement of decisions in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, and on international child abduction (Brussels IIb Regulation) is applicable from 1 August 2022.

The Regulation further strengthens the use of mediation and alternative dispute resolution - See Article 25 & Recital 43.

The Coordinator encourages the ongoing development of professional networks and the sharing of knowledge and expertise amongst professionals. The office of the Coordinator is working closely with cross-border mediator networks and other associations and bodies in Europe to support the development of best practice to protect children in cross-border family disputes.

We encourage professionals to connect with established networks and associations including the following:

When children are involved in judicial proceedings, either directly or indirectly, judicial systems must ensure that the rights and needs of the child are fully considered and respected. Proceedings involving children must be carried out in a child friendly and timely manner in order to ensure the best interests of the child.

In cases of parental child abduction and custody, the Brussels IIb Regulation introduces an obligation for member states to give children who are capable of forming their own views a genuine and effective opportunity to be heard during the proceedings. The court must take these views into consideration and must give due weight to the views of the child based on their age and maturity - Articles 21 & 26.

Training and professional standards must be in place for those charged with hearing the child in an appropriate, meaningful and safe way. The Coordinator wishes to support EU countries’ work in developing and implementing best practices to hear the child.

In addition, the Coordinator is keen to encourage the training of judicial and administrative bodies tasked with the hearing of the child, as well as to foster the introduction of child inclusive mediation and the introduction of professional standards and training for cross-border mediators working with children.

Regulation 2019/1111 of 25 June 2019 on jurisdiction, the recognition and enforcement of decisions in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, and on international child abduction (Brussels IIb Regulation) is applicable from 1 August 2022.

The new rules introduced in the Brussels IIb Regulation focus on matters relating to parental responsibility disputes and cross-border parental child abduction cases. The new rules seek to simplify the procedures, focus on closer cooperation between judicial systems and aims to ensure swifter application and efficient enforcement of decisions to protect the best interests of the child involved in cross-border proceeding.

The Brussels IIb Regulation also provides for the duty to ensure that children are given a genuine and effective opportunity to express their views in all proceedings concerning parental responsibility and it further strengthens the role of mediation in such proceedings.

We invite professionals to check out the following guides to good practice to the Hague convention and the “Brussels IIb” Regulation.

• Child Abduction Section of the Hague Conference Website
• Practice guide for the application of Brussels IIb Regulation

Guide to Good Practice 1980 Hague Convention:

• Transfrontier Contact Concerning Children – General Principles and Guide to Good Practice
• Guide to Good Practice Child Abduction Convention: Part I - Central Authority Practice
• Guide to Good Practice Child Abduction Convention: Part II - Implementing Measures
• Guide to Good Practice Child Abduction Convention: Part III - Preventive Measures
• Guide to Good Practice Child Abduction Convention: Part IV - Enforcement
• Guide to Good Practice Child Abduction Convention: Part VI - Article 13(1)(b)

Other useful resources:

• High-Level Conference on Brussels IIb Regulation
• AMICABLE project on the cross-border recognition and enforceability of mediated family agreements in the EU
• E- Justice Portal
• Eurostat statistics on marriage, divorce and birth in the EU
• New developments in EU Family Law in Parental Child Abduction & Cross-border Parental Responsibility Disputes - Short animated information film by MiKK - International Mediation Centre for Family Conflict & Child Abduction (co-funded by the European Union)
  English with subtitles in all 24 EU languages.