Poland's accession to the European Union has helped to make our lives easier on many different levels. The abolition of borders between member states has significantly influenced the freedom of travel, opened up opportunities to study and work abroad without unnecessary difficulties, and subtracted many of the tedious and sometimes burdensome formalities associated with travel. Freedom of travel has directly affected the sphere of interpersonal relations, making it easier to maintain and nurture them, sometimes leading directly to their sealing.
However, when the excitement subsides a bit, and the away memories and feelings sprinkled with Spanish sunshine or the hazy, romantic atmosphere of London come into contact with the brutal reality of cross-cultural differences, it turns out that what seemed like a gust of heart and worked in other circumstances no longer holds true.
We make the decision to divorce, and this is where the questions begin to multiply. Since we got married abroad, since my (still) spouse is a foreigner, can I get divorced in Poland?
Answers to these questions will be provided by the provisions of the Brussels II bis Regulation, i.e. Council Regulation (EC) No. 2201/2003 of November 27, 2003 concerning jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in matrimonial matters and matters of parental responsibility, repealing Regulation (EC) No. 1347/2000.
Pursuant to Article 3 of the Regulation, in matters of judgments relating to divorce, separation or annulment of marriage, jurisdiction will lie with the courts of the Member State in whose territory both spouses have their habitual residence or last had both their habitual residence, if one of them still has his or her habitual residence there. Jurisdiction will also be vested in the courts of the Member State in whose territory the opposing party has habitual residence, or in the case of a joint action or application, one of the spouses has habitual residence, or the plaintiff or applicant has habitual residence if he or she has resided there for at least one year immediately prior to the filing of the action or application. If the plaintiff has habitual residence on the territory of a Member State, if he or she has been there for at least six months immediately prior to the filing of the petition and is a national of that Member State, the courts of that State will also be authorized to conduct the divorce case. This provision will apply, for example, in a situation where a Polish citizen whose spouse is a citizen of another Member State wishes to divorce in Poland.
The court of the Member State of citizenship of both spouses will also have jurisdiction to grant a divorce. What does this mean in practice? If two Poles married in Spain and would like to divorce in Poland, there is nothing to prevent them from doing so.
The above regulations were based on equivalent grounds of jurisdiction, which means that a party who wants to initiate divorce proceedings has the right to choose the court of the Member State before which the case will be brought.
It is worth remembering the regulations discussed above, when making this difficult, but sometimes the only right decision. Conducting a divorce in Poland excludes possible language difficulties, facilitates the hearing of Polish witnesses (the need to provide and pay for an interpreter is eliminated) and, finally, gives you the opportunity to use a Polish attorney who will guide you through the procedural intricacies.
