Facts
A., an Argentine national, has been the wife of [C.], a Swiss national, since July 25, 1997, and the mother of B., born on August 18, 1997 in Buenos Aires. On October 18, 2000, [C.] filed a claim with Judicial District IV Aarwangen-Wangen, requesting a court determination that no parent-child relationship exists between him and B. The court of first instance dismissed the claim, as it concluded that Argentine law was applicable to the challenge of the parent-child relationship and the claim was time-barred under Article 259 of the Argentine Civil Code. The Appellate Court of the Canton of Bern, however, found that Swiss law was applicable and remanded the case to the first instance for further proceedings.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court first examined whether the appeals were admissible. It concluded that this was an independent interim decision that could only be challenged under the conditions of Article 50(1) of the Federal Act on the Organization of Federal Judicial Authorities.
On the merits, the Federal Supreme Court found that the child had its habitual residence in Argentina on the day of birth, as the mother had her center of life there. Therefore, Argentine law is generally applicable to the challenge of the parent-child relationship. However, according to Article 69(2) of the Swiss Private…