Child Marriages Are Not Automatically Refused Recognition in Belgium
by Jinske Verhellen and Sarah Den Haese
Question(s) at stake
Whether a child marriage concluded in Somalia can be recognized in Belgium
Outcome of the ruling
The status of the refugee must prompt Belgian authorities to show administrative flexibility. Since any exchange with Somalia, a country at war, is impossible, the legalization of Somali documents is not possible.
The recognition of a Somali child marriage is not contrary to the Belgian public order. Given the current age of the young woman, the recognition does not violate fundamental principles.
Country:
Official citation
Family Court Liège, Judgment of 25 May 2018 (Tribunal de la famille Liège, 25 mai 2018)
Topic(s)
Keywords:
Child marriage Limitations and justifications Marriage and partnership Public order Situations created abroad
Tag(s):
Recognition of foreign institutions
Bibliographic information
Access case report
View case report in the CUREDI databaseAbout the authors
Jinske Verhellen (Ghent University, Belgium)
Jinske Verhellen studied Law and Anthropology. She has always combined these two disciplines in her work, both in academia and in practice (as an attorney, as a staff member of the Ghent City contact point for discrimination reports, etc.). In 2006, Jinske Verhellen had the unique opportunity to help establish the Private International Law Centre in Brussels (now part of the Agentschap Integratie en Inburgering), which gives advice and does policy work in the field of private international law in family matters. In January 2009, she returned to Ghent University, where in 2012 she obtained her doctoral degree on 'The Belgian Code of Private International Law in family matters' (financed by the Research Foundation - Flanders). Since 2014, she is Professor of Law at Ghent University, lecturing private international law, international family law and notarial private international law.
Jinske Verhellen is a member of the Ghent University Interfaculty Research Group CESSMIR (Centre for the Social Study of Migration and Refugees) and the Ghent University Human Rights Network. Since 2015, she is the President of the Diversity Commission of the Ghent Faculty of Law and Criminology and in 2020 she was asked to chair the Anti-discrimination Commission of the Ghent University.
For the CUREDI project Jinske Verhellen serves in the coordination team, the editorial board and acts as reviewer.
Jinske Verhellen has published on various aspects of private international law, international family law, migration law and nationality law (full publication list can be found here). She is currently Chief Editor of the Belgian Private International Law Journal (Tijdschrift@ipr.be / Revue@dipr.be) and a member of several editorial boards.
Sarah Den Haese (Ghent University, Belgium)
In 2012, Sarah Den Haese obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work at the Arteveldehogeschool in Ghent. Afterwards, she commenced her studies in law at the University of Ghent from which she graduated in 2016 with great distinction. In the framework of the Erasmus exchange program, she spent one semester at the University of Helsinki. In her final thesis, she examined the role and position of children who are the victim of parental abduction. Sarah’s research interests concern private international law, (international) family law, human rights and migration law. In August 2016, she started working for the Institute of Private International Law at the University of Ghent were she is working on a PhD concerning the portability of cross-border civil statuses. Departing from the right to respect for private and family life, her research will examine whether and to what extent the human rights approach is able to reduce the negative effects of limping legal relations.