Committee presses Minister on civil justice and family law cooperation plans post-Brexit
The Security and Justice Sub-Committee will hear from the Rt Hon Lord Keen of Elie QC, the Government’s spokesperson in the House of Lords for justice matters. Lord Keen has been invited by Members to answer questions about the Government’s decision to turn its back on a range of important EU legislation governing civil justice cooperation at the end of December.
Meeting details
Of particular concern to the Committee is the impact of this decision on the UK’s already stretched family law system caused by the loss of the so-called Brussels IIa Regulation, which deals with the complex questions of jurisdiction for family law disputes, and the Maintenance Regulation which, until the end of this year, enables the enforcement of national child maintenance orders throughout all the legal systems of the EU Member States.
Amongst other matters, the Committee looks forward to asking the Minister: why the Government changed its mind and decided not to negotiate replacement civil justice arrangements with the EU 27; for an update on the UK’s progress towards acceding to the Lugano Convention in its own right; on the Government’s plans for preparing the UK’s family law system for such a major change; for his advice to parents whose children are taken against their will to EU 27 states; and, the steps taken by the Government to help parents mitigate the loss of this important EU legislation.
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