Facts

A. (born 1983) and B. (born 1979) are the unmarried parents of C. (born 2010). The parents had an agreement approved by the guardianship authority, according to which they have joint parental responsibility and the mother shall have custody if the household is dissolved. At the end of 2014, the parents separated and initially continued to live in the same village near Interlaken.

With regard to the mother's planned move with the child to Solothurn, the father applied to the Child and Adult Protection Authority (KESB) Oberland Ost to prohibit the mother from moving and to regulate the child's care. The KESB dismissed the applications and, based on Art. 301a of the Swiss Civil Code (ZGB), granted the mother's consent to the change of the child's place of residence. The father filed a complaint, which was dismissed by the Cantonal Court of Bern.

By way of a civil law appeal, the father requests that the mother not be granted consent to change the child's place of residence and that joint or alternating custody be ordered, with regulation of the equal shares of care.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court first points out that according to Art. 301a(2)(b) ZGB, a change in the child's place of residence within Switzerland requires the consent of the other parent or the decision of the court or the child protection authority if the move has significant consequences for the exercise of parental responsibility or personal contact.

The Federal Supreme Court explains that the "significant consequences" primarily relate to the specific care model, i.e., whether the existing care concept can be maintained. Significant consequences for personal contact can also trigger the requirement for consent.

Furthermore, the Federal Supreme Court clarifies that the conjunction "and" in Art. 301a(2)(b) ZGB must be teleologically reduced, so that either significant consequences for the exercise of parental responsibility or for personal contact make the move subject to the requirement for consent.

Regarding the question of which criteria the approval of the move is…