Protection Orders across Europe: First Remarks on Regulation No. 606/2013

Summary

The present essay will deal with EU Regulation No. 606/2013 on mutual recognition of protection measures in civil matters, which has been recently adopted on the basis of Article 81 TFEU in order to ensure the free circulation of such measures throughout the EU. To that end, firstly certain key issues which have arisen so far in the context of cross-border ex parte measures will be tackled as well as their enforcement abroad. Subsequently, a short overview of the new Regulation and of its main features will be presented. Finally, a few considerations focusing on the interrelationship between the EU uniform rules and the Italian legal system shall be addressed.

CONTEXT OF THE EU LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL

According to certain surveys, around one European woman in five has suffered from violence, such as physical assault or psychological harm, at least once during her adult life. In the majority of cases, such violence has been domestic violence. However, this kind of violence is not limited to (ex–)spouses and relatives. In fact, it also includes victims who are stalked by acquaintances, by strangers, or sometimes even by ex-partners with whom they were not married or did not enter into a registered partnership. Moreover, the victims may be indirect, such as family members, especially children, who also suffer from the consequences of violence committed by and among their parents. Therefore, in order to satisfy the need for protection shown by these victims, from the 1970s onward several Member States started to enact ad hoc legislation. Such legislation provides for the possibility to adopt temporary and preventative remedies – generally aimed at removing the off ender of domestic violence from the protected party's home and/or workplace for a limited period of time – regardless of whether or not the violent conduct amounts to the commission of a crime and independent from divorce proceedings.

Until now, by their very nature, the effects of such legal remedies have been confi ned within the territory of the issuing Member State. As such, when a protected person exercised his/her right to free movement, the protection gained through a national order was irremediably lost unless an additional order was issued in the Member State of destination.