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Competent Courts in Germany

Among the more than 600 family courts in Germany, only 22 have jurisdiction for proceedings concerning return, access and recognition and enforcement proceedings pursuant to Sections 10-12, 47 International Family Law Procedure Act (the Family Court in the district of which a Court of Appeal has its seat; for Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) with its three Courts of Appeal, the Family Court Celle only). This applies to the following proceedings:

  • return of a child who has been abducted to Germany to another Contracting State pursuant to the Hague Child Abduction Convention,
  • proceedings for contact between a child living in Germany and a parent living in another Member State of the European Union or in another Contracting State of the Hague Child Abduction Convention, the Hague Child Protection Convention or the European Custody Convention if these proceedings are being brought by the Federal Office of Justice,
  • proceedings for the establishment of recognition and/or declaration of enforceability of a foreign custody or contact order under the Hague Child Protection Convention or the European Custody Convention
  • proceedings seeking to establish a lack of grounds for refusal of recognition, a refusal of recognition or a suspension and refusal of enforcement of a decision on the substance of rights of custody or a decision granting rights of access given by the courts of another EU Member State pursuant to the Brussels II b Regulation
  • proceedings aiming to make arrangements for organising the exercise of rights of access in relation to a decision from another EU Member State pursuant to Article 54 of the Brussels II b Regulation
  • proceedings for the enforcement of a return or contact order from another EU Member State pursuant to Chapter IV of the Brussels II b Regulation
  • proceedings for the placement by a foreign authority of a child living in another EU Member State or in a Contracting State to the Hague Child Protection Convention in institutional care or with a foster family in Germany by a foreign judicial or administrative authority or other body
  • proceedings for the establishment of recognition and/or declaration of enforceability of a foreign custody or contact order under the Brussels II a-Regulation and proceedings for the enforcement of a return or contact order from another EU Member State pursuant to Articles 40 to 42 of the Brussels II a-Regulation

If a parent living abroad wants to seek contact with a child living in Germany and seizes the competent German court directly without the assistance of the German Central Authority, he or she has the choice between the court with special jurisdiction mentioned above and the ordinary family court in the district of which the child is habitually resident.

Read more on "International custody matters"