In Europe, fathers who are not married do not have the same rights as mothers towards their children. This is the case of Ireland for instance. The European Court of Justice confirmed this principle with a judgement issued on Monday 5 October, which recognizes the compatibility of the Irish regulation with Community law, in particular with the regulation No 2201/2003 and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In the case of unmarried couples, parental responsibility is granted solely to the child’s mother, while it may be granted to the child’s father by an agreement entered into by the parents or by a court under the law of the Member State where the child is habitually resident. These conditions are evidently difficult and unfavourable for fathers if his ex-partner does not agree to the agreement or worse, if she leaves the family home with the children to move to another country. As in the case heard by the European court where the mother, who was British, left the man and their house in Ireland taking with her their three children to England.
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