The new Regulation called “Brussels II” of the EU Council came into force on 1st March. It rules that “judicial decisions in terms of parental responsibility will be recognized throughout the European Union” (with the exception of Denmark) (http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/ejn/parental_resp/parental_resp_ec_it.htm). The Regulation marks an important step towards the establishment of a common European space in the sector of family law. It covers all legal actions proposed after 1st March 2005 in the field of marriage rights and parental responsibility to under-age children. It will reinforce the principles enunciated by the Convention of The Hague of 1980 on the civil aspects of the international abduction of minors and facilitate their return to their State of origin “if better conditions of protection exist in that State”. The rulings of the competent courts must be issued within six weeks of the denunciation of the abduction, the period during which both the minor and parent “extraneous to the abduction” will have the faculty to be heard by the judges.
