In the margins of the Council on General Affairs and Policy of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, the Greek Presidency, represented by the Chair of the Working Party on Civil Law Matters, Professor Spyridon Vrellis, deposited on 9 April the EU’s instrument of ratification of the “Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance”. The ratification is considered an important step in the further development of the relations between the Union and third states in the area of maintenance obligations.

The Convention, along with the Protocol on the Law Applicable to Maintenance Obligations, was signed on 23 November 2007. Its object is to ensure the effective international recovery of child support. It puts emphasis on the “effective access” to procedures, recognising that small financial obstacles confronting an impecunious creditor may deter the bringing of an international claim. Applications for child support will be processed through a Central Authority established by each country. Each country should also provide free legal assistance for child support obligations in terms of the application process. Furthermore, the use of new information technologies is encouraged to reduce the costs and delays.

The Convention does not focus on the examination of decisions regarding child support orders, but rather on the creation of an efficient process to enforce those orders. To this aim, it foresees a broadly based system of expedited and simplified procedures for the recognition and enforcement of maintenance decisions made in contracting states. The habitual residence of either the respondent or the creditor in the contacting state where proceedings were initiated, are likely to be the principal bases for recognising and enforcing maintenance decisions in practice.

“I would like to congratulate Professor Spyridon Vrellis on achieving the ratification by the EU of the Hague Convention of 23 November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance. The Convention is first and foremost a measure to protect children. Its aim is to establish a comprehensive system of administrative co-operation between the Central Authorities of the contracting states concerning the recognition and enforcement of maintenance decisions through procedures which are accessible, efficient, cost-effective and fair”, stressed Minister of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights Mr. Charalampos Athanasiou.