The notion of rights of access refers not only to the rights of access of
parents to their child, but also to the rights of access of other persons with whom it is important for the child to maintain a personal relationship, among others, the child’s grandparents, the European Union's Court of Justice has said.
The Luxembourg-based court was ruling in the case of a Bulgarian national, Neli Valcheva, who is the maternal grandmother of a child born in 2002.
Since his parents’ divorce, the child has been habitually resident in Greece with his Greek father. The grandmother wished to obtain rights of access.
Finding that she was unable to maintain quality contact with her grandson, and having unsuccessfully sought the support of the Greek authorities, she applied to the Bulgarian courts for a determination of arrangements for her to exercise rights of access to her grandson. She requested to be able to see him regularly one weekend each month and for him to stay at her home twice a year for two or three weeks during his holidays.
The Bulgarian courts dismissed the action on the basis of lack of jurisdiction. The Bulgarian Supreme Court took the view that, in order to determine its jurisdiction, it was essential to establish whether EU Regulation on the right of access applied also to grandparents.
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Taking up the case, the European Court of Justice said the notion of ‘rights of access’ within the meaning of the Brussels IIa Regulation must be interpreted autonomously. After pointing out that that regulation covers all decisions on parental responsibility and that rights of access are identified as a priority, the Court noted that the EU legislature chose not to provide for any limitation
of the range of persons who may exercise parental responsibility or hold rights of access.
Thus, according to the Court, the notion of rights of access refers not only to the rights of access of parents to their child, but also to the rights of access of other persons with whom it is important for the child to maintain a personal relationship, among others, the child’s grandparents.
The court said that in order to avoid the adoption of conflicting measures by different courts, and in the best interests of the child, the same court — as a general rule, the court of the child’s habitual residence — should rule on rights of access.