European Commentaries on Private International Law: Brussels IIbis Regulation

Brussels Il' has been an integral part of the daily lives of European family lawyers for a decade. Those who deal with transnational family law issues wil not only possess an excellent command of the law but also of its manipulative effects. Given the sharp increase in free movement and the subsequent rise ir cross-border marriages, it is only natural that transnational matrimonial dis putes will at some point knock on the door of all family lawyers in Europe. The rules seem fairly simple, but in practice they are never straightforward. This excellent commentary tries to put theory and practice into some sort of per spective. For one thing the editors have amassed a formidable group of authors many of whom were directly involved in the general drafting process of Brus sels Il and whose reports or work is often cited alongside - or in place of - tha of the EC Commission. The volume's aim is to serve as an article-by-article commentary to the entirety of Brussels II, and overall it certainly achieves this purpose rather admirably. The commentary is further accompanied by a long introductory chapter authored by the editors which very succinctly sets out the larger picture of European family law and the place of Brussels II - including its predecessors - within this architecture.