Divorce.co.uk

The UK's premier resource on divorce & separation

 

International families

Can I divorce in England? >> Brussels II
Brussels II is the shorthand name for the Brussels convention of 1998 on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgements in Matrimonial Matters (no: 1347/2000).

It came into force on 1 March 2002. Brussels II is the European Convention that regulates the jurisdiction for divorce proceedings within EU countries.  

It currently applies to the following countries:

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • UK

Brussels II sets out the circumstances in which a state that has contracted to adhere to the Convention can have jurisdiction for divorce and related financial matters. It therefore standardises the jurisdiction for contracting states within Brussels II to have jurisdiction to deal with divorce and financial proceedings (see jurisdiction for a divorce to take place in England).  

If a couple has connections with two European countries, it may well be possible that the courts of those two European countries would, at least theoretically, have jurisdiction to deal with that couple’s divorce. Brussels II lays down the way in which such a conflict of jurisdictions is dealt with.  

The basic position is that the court of the country in which the divorce proceedings are first issued will take precedence and the divorce will go ahead there.  
 
If proceedings are then issued in another country that has contracted to Brussels II, then (provided the first set of proceedings has been served) the second court has to decline jurisdiction in favour of the other country in whose court proceedings were first issued.
 
By way of example, take the situation of a German husband and an English wife who marry in 2000. They live in England between 2000 and 2002 and in Germany between 2002 and 2006 when they separate.  
 
The wife returns to live in England and, by the time they are considering divorce proceedings, she has lived there for 18 months. The husband remains living in Germany.  
 
Under the jurisdiction provisions of Brussels II, both the English and the German courts would have jurisdiction to deal with their divorce. If the wife issued divorce proceedings in England first and the husband then tried to do so in Germany, the German court would have to decline jurisdiction and the divorce proceedings would be dealt with in England.