Rodríguez Benot on the Property Regime of Couples in Private International Law
The special course given by Andrés Rodríguez Benot (Pablo de Olavide University Sevilla) at the Hague Academy of International Law on Le régime économique des mariages et des partenariats enregistrés en droit international privé (The Property Regime of Marriages and Registered Partnerships in Private International Law) has been published in Volume 445 of the Collected Courses of the Academy. The author has kindly accepted the invitation of the editors of the EAPIL blog to prepare the following English summary of the book.
Community of life during marriage or registered partnership gives rise to property effects that may manifest either internally (between spouses or partners), or externally (with respect to third parties). The institution of the property regime of couples is one of the most complex in both domestic and comparative law. Its difficulties increases significantly at the international level when a marriage or a registered partnership are connected to at least two legal systems for personal, material, territorial or formal reasons.
To address this subject in a systematic and modern manner, this book analyses, among other aspects, the scope and definition of the institution (including its content and its connections with other constructs). It then examines the efforts to codify this area of law at both the universal and regional levels (with particular emphasis on the 2016 European regulations). The book also considers the procedural dimension of the topic, including jurisdiction and the cross-border recognition of decisions. Next, it explores the internal approaches to the subject —both substantive and conflict-of-laws— and concludes with the ad extra perspective, focusing on the protection of third parties.
The aim of this book is to provide jurists — both scholars and practitioners — with the tools necessary to achieve a thorough understanding of this topic from an international and comparative point of view.