EU international family law: Legal basis, sources, case law of ECJ

Abstract

The paper offers analysis of two issues. The first is the overview of the legal basis of international family law and it's sources under the Treaty of Lisbon on the Functioning of the European Union, and the second the case law of the European Court of Justice. Since 1999, when the Treaty of Amsterdam came into force, four regulations were adopted in matters of international family law as secondary sources of EU law, and three of them came into force. National courts of Member Sates are bound to apply directly three regulations, but so far only the interpretation of Brussels II bis Regulation has reached the European Court of Justice. Some of the judgments of the Court could be of interest for Serbian private international law. The reason is in the fact that the Court gave rulings on issues and concepts which are not defined in Serbian law, so they could influence the development and definitions of the those in the course of drawing up the new Act of Private International Law in Serbia. The paper reviews the Sundelind Lopez, the Hadady, the Case A. and the Mercredi judgments.