ABSTRACT
This article explores the emerging field of intra-family torts, with a particular focus on cross-border child abduction and the law applicable to compensation claims. It traces the historical reluctance of courts to recognise civil liability within families, the erosion of spousal and parental immunities, and the gradual acceptance of claims for serious wrongs between family members. Using the case of Kukavica v Bulgaria as a central illustration, the article highlights the shortcomings of tort-based conflict-of-law rules under the Rome II Regulation, which exclude obligations arising from family relationships and struggle to locate harm across borders. It argues that the lex fori approach under the Hague Child Protection Convention often proves too rigid and that the exception in Article 15(2), connecting to the law of the child’s habitual residence, offers greater coherence and fairness. Ultimately, it proposes a family law-based lex causae model as a principled and predictable solution for compensating harms arising from child abduction.
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Nadia Rusinova, From tort to family law: compensation for cross-border child abduction in Silvia Marino, Anna Wysocka-Bar and Javier Carrascosa González (eds), Status and Family Relationships in European Private International Law, Edward Elgar Publishing. Published 2 June 2026.
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