CYIL vol. 11 (2020)

DIMITRIS I. LIAKOPOULOS CYIL 11 (2020) divorce have been tightened in various EU countries and non-jurisdictional forms of disunion of spouses have been introduced, particularly slim and inexpensive, making thus the use of foreign holes is less advantageous. As regards parental responsibility, the 1996 Hague Convention on parental responsibility and the protection of minors 61 , ratified by all Member States of the EU, will also apply in matters of jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of decisions. The Union and whose provisions already apply in internal relations between these states to the sole determination of the applicable law; in this way, the recognition of provisions on parental responsibility, and in particular on custody and the right to visit, will also be more complex than in the current force of Regulation Brussels II-bis. With regard to international child abduction, the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the civil aspects of international child abduction will naturally continue to apply 62 . However, the set of provisions contained in the Brussels II-bis Regulation which supplements the functioning of the convention will cease to operate for the United Kingdom, and therefore in relations between it and the Member States of the Union; consequently also in this case the procedures aimed at the return of the minor will no longer benefit from the tools offered by the uniform European legislation 63 . Furthermore, the mediation system headed by the Coordinator for the Rights of the Child, who works at the European Parliament and offers, among other things, assistance to parents whose minor child has been transferred to another, will no longer be available in relations with the United Kingdom. On the whole, this is a clear setback in the conditions of the international legal life of both British citizens and residents and of the people who come into contact with them 64 . As regards the maintenance sector, always in relations with the Member States of the Union (with the exception of Denmark), the current applicability of Regulation 4/2009 will be replaced by that of the 2007 hague convention on the international recovery of alimony towards minor children and other family members 65 , which now operates only in relations with third States which are parties to it. The 2007 Convention was ratified by the Union on behalf of its Member States (with the exclusion of Denmark) and currently the United Kingdom is a party to it under this title, but-similarly to what has already been seen for the 2005 Convention on the choice of forum agreements, it has decided to remain bound to it and has already proceeded to deposit its instrument of ratification, communicating, however, with subsequent declarations, that the effectiveness is suspended until its definitive withdrawal 61 https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/full-text/?cid=70. P. Stone, Stone on private international law in the EU, op. cit. 62 https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/full-text/?cid=24. LIAKOPOULOS, D. Interactions between European Court of Human Rights and private international law of European Union, op. cit., pp. 260ss. 63 LOWE, N. ‘What are the implications of the Brexit vote for the law on international child abduction’, (2017), 29 (3) CFLQ 253ss. BEAUMONT, P. ‘Private international law concerning children in the UK after Brexit: comparing Hague treaty law with EU Regulations’, (2017), 29 CFLQ 213ss. DUSTIN, M., FERREIRA, N., MILLINS, S. Gender and queer perspectives on Brexit , (ed. Springer, Berlin, 2019). HERRING, J. Family law , (Pearson UK, London, 2019). 64 Which contains extremely favorable judgments regarding the impact in the United Kingdom of the Brussels II- bis regulation on the rights of people and in particular of children; v. also, for general observations, LAMONT, R. ‘Not a European family: Implications of “Brexit” for international family law’, (2017), 29 (3) CFLQ 267ss. 65 Council Decision of 9 June 2011 on the approval, on behalf of the European Union, of the Hague Convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance, OJ L 192, 22.7.2011, pp. 39-50.

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