Internationaal huwelijksvermogenrecht: van Den Haag naar Brussel

PhD ceremony: Ms. A.G.H. Kuper, 12.45 uur, Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen

Dissertation: Internationaal huwelijksvermogenrecht: van Den Haag naar Brussel. Een onderzoek naar de ontwikkeling van het Nederlandse internationaal huwelijksvermogenrecht in het licht van een toekomstige Europese regeling

Promotor(s): prof. M.H. ten Wolde

Faculty: Law

Alexandra Kuper’s doctoral thesis holds a study into the applicable law on matrimonial property. In international cases it is not always intelligible that Dutch law is applicable. In the present study, the main question is how the current Dutch conflicts-of-laws rule for international matrimonial property law functions and how European conflict-of-law rules on international matrimonial property law should be formed from a Dutch perspective. Chapter 1 outlines the problems of the international property law. The complexity of the Dutch law on international matrimonial property is caused by the existence of different legal regimes in this area. Depending on the time of marriage one of the two regimes is applicable.

The second chapter contains an examination of the Hague Effects of marriage Convention of 1905 in the Netherlands. Both the establishment and the results of this Convention are outlined. Chapter 3 discusses the rules of domestic international matrimonial property law, which apply in the absence of an applicable convention. The fourth chapter concerns the Hague Conference of 1976 as well as a study of the establishment of the Hague Matrimonial Property Regimes Convention of 1978. Chapter 5 discusses the application of the Hague Matrimonial Property Regimes Convention of 1978 in the Netherlands. Chapter 6 explores some of the most important aspects of the legislation in France, Germany and Switzerland. The seventh chapter concerns the most desirable regulation of the applicable law regarding matrimonial property regimes at a European level. The proposal for a Regulation on matrimonial property regimes is discussed in chapter 8. It is examined how this Regulation relates to the conclusions that Kuper has drawn in the seventh chapter. In the ninth and final chapter, recommendations are made which can be included in the negotiations on the Regulation on Matrimonial Property Regimes.