Jurisdiction
General provisions, Article 3
As a general rule, Article 3 of the Regulation states that jurisdiction in matters relating to maintenance obligations in Member States can alternatively lie with
- the court for the place where either the defendant or creditor is habitually resident.
Furthermore, jurisdiction in matters relating to maintenance obligations in Member States can lie with the court which has jurisdiction (according to its own law) to entertain proceedings concerning:
- the status of a person or
- parental responsibility
if the maintenance matter is ancillary to those proceedings (unless that jurisdiction is solely based on nationality).
Regarding the concept of “nationality” used in Articles 3, 4 and 6, it needs to be highlighted, that the Regulation provides for this concept to be replaced by the concept of “domicile” as concerns those Member States which use the latter concept as a connecting factor in family matters (see Article 2(3)).