Family Law Hub

Judgment, published: 04/02/2003

Items referring to this

• Bentinck v Bentinck [2007] EWCA Civ 175
  Judgment, 06/03/2007, free
• Jefferson v O'Connor [2014] EWCA Civ 38
  An unusual case where the English court was first seised of the parties' divorce proceedings. The husband then arranged for the divorce proceedings by mutual consent to be issued in the Spanish court. The English proceedings were then stayed (and subsequently dismissed) on the primary ground that the parties had entered into an agreement (the "Agreement") whereby the wife undertook that she had abandoned the English divorce proceedings, so that she was estopped from arguing that those proceedings remained extant. The wife argued that the effect of the Council Regulation No 2201/2003 was to prevent the court implementing any agreement by the parties as to the appropriate jurisdiction for divorce proceedings. It was submitted that the effect of articles 16 and 19 of the Council Regulation was to give jurisdiction to the court first seised of the matter, and to require the second court to decline jurisdiction in favour of the first court. In this case, the English court was seised first, and accordingly no subsequent agreement of any kind could displace its jurisdiction. Lord Justice Vos ruled that the judge was wrong to order a stay of the proceedings on the basis of the Agreement. He ought to have held that the provisions of article 19 of the Council Regulation were applicable and could not be overridden by the Agreement. In these circumstances, the suggestion that the proceedings should be taken to have lapsed could not succeed. Judgment, 29/01/2014, free
• L-K v K [2006] EWHC 153 (Fam)
  Judgment, 10/02/2006, free
• Mittal v Mittal [2013] EWCA Civ 1255
  Wife's appeal against a stay of proceedings brought by her in England on the ground that India was the more appropriate forum to hear the proceedings (forum non conveniens). Appeal dismissed. Judgment, 20/10/2013, free
• Moses-Taiga v Taiga [2005] EWCA Civ 1013
  Judgment, 05/07/2005, free
• Re T v T (Occupation orders, Brussels I and Protective Measures) [2010] EWHC 3776 (Fam)
  Case note, 21/12/2010, members only
• Ville de Bauge & Anor v China [2014] EWHC 3975 (Fam)
  Judgment concerning jurisdiction for divorce proceedings under BIIR where the husband had issued in Italy and the wife had filed petitions in England. The judge dismissed the wife's English petitions. Judgment, 27/11/2014, free