- Latest available (Revised)
- Point in Time (31/01/2020)
- Original (As adopted by EU)
Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 of 27 November 2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and the matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000
When the UK left the EU, legislation.gov.uk published EU legislation that had been published by the EU up to IP completion day (31 December 2020 11.00 p.m.). On legislation.gov.uk, these items of legislation are kept up-to-date with any amendments made by the UK since then.
Legislation.gov.uk publishes the UK version. EUR-Lex publishes the EU version. The EU Exit Web Archive holds a snapshot of EUR-Lex’s version from IP completion day (31 December 2020 11.00 p.m.).
Point in time view as at 31/01/2020.
There are outstanding changes not yet made to Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003. Any changes that have already been made to the legislation appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.
Changes and effects yet to be applied by the editorial team are only applicable when viewing the latest version or prospective version of legislation. They are therefore not accessible when viewing legislation as at a specific point in time. To view the ‘Changes to Legislation’ information for this provision return to the latest version view using the options provided in the ‘What Version’ box above.
1.This Regulation shall apply, whatever the nature of the court or tribunal, in civil matters relating to:
(a)divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment;
(b)the attribution, exercise, delegation, restriction or termination of parental responsibility.
2.The matters referred to in paragraph 1(b) may, in particular, deal with:
(a)rights of custody and rights of access;
(b)guardianship, curatorship and similar institutions;
(c)the designation and functions of any person or body having charge of the child's person or property, representing or assisting the child;
(d)the placement of the child in a foster family or in institutional care;
(e)measures for the protection of the child relating to the administration, conservation or disposal of the child's property.
3.This Regulation shall not apply to:
(a)the establishment or contesting of a parent-child relationship;
(b)decisions on adoption, measures preparatory to adoption, or the annulment or revocation of adoption;
(c)the name and forenames of the child;
(d)emancipation;
(e)maintenance obligations;
(f)trusts or succession;
(g)measures taken as a result of criminal offences committed by children.
For the purposes of this Regulation:
the term ‘court’ shall cover all the authorities in the Member States with jurisdiction in the matters falling within the scope of this Regulation pursuant to Article 1;
the term ‘judge’ shall mean the judge or an official having powers equivalent to those of a judge in the matters falling within the scope of the Regulation;
the term ‘Member State’ shall mean all Member States with the exception of Denmark;
the term ‘judgment’ shall mean a divorce, legal separation or marriage annulment, as well as a judgment relating to parental responsibility, pronounced by a court of a Member State, whatever the judgment may be called, including a decree, order or decision;
the term ‘Member State of origin’ shall mean the Member State where the judgment to be enforced was issued;
the term ‘Member State of enforcement’ shall mean the Member State where enforcement of the judgment is sought;
the term ‘parental responsibility’ shall mean all rights and duties relating to the person or the property of a child which are given to a natural or legal person by judgment, by operation of law or by an agreement having legal effect. The term shall include rights of custody and rights of access;
the term ‘holder of parental responsibility’ shall mean any person having parental responsibility over a child;
the term ‘rights of custody’ shall include rights and duties relating to the care of the person of a child, and in particular the right to determine the child's place of residence;
the term ‘rights of access’ shall include in particular the right to take a child to a place other than his or her habitual residence for a limited period of time;
the term ‘wrongful removal or retention’ shall mean a child's removal or retention where:
it is in breach of rights of custody acquired by judgment or by operation of law or by an agreement having legal effect under the law of the Member State where the child was habitually resident immediately before the removal or retention;
and
provided that, at the time of removal or retention, the rights of custody were actually exercised, either jointly or alone, or would have been so exercised but for the removal or retention. Custody shall be considered to be exercised jointly when, pursuant to a judgment or by operation of law, one holder of parental responsibility cannot decide on the child's place of residence without the consent of another holder of parental responsibility.
The Whole Regulation you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.
Would you like to continue?
Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.
Original (As adopted by EU): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was first adopted in the EU. No changes have been applied to the text.
Point in Time: This becomes available after navigating to view revised legislation as it stood at a certain point in time via Advanced Features > Show Timeline of Changes or via a point in time advanced search.
Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.
Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
This timeline shows the different versions taken from EUR-Lex before exit day and during the implementation period as well as any subsequent versions created after the implementation period as a result of changes made by UK legislation.
The dates for the EU versions are taken from the document dates on EUR-Lex and may not always coincide with when the changes came into force for the document.
For any versions created after the implementation period as a result of changes made by UK legislation the date will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. For further information see our guide to revised legislation on Understanding Legislation.
Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including: