First of all, this casebook is designed to assist students at the course of comparative family law as lectured at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. It also aims to contribute to the development of European and comparative family law, which has become more than ever the object of scientific research nowadays. Besides an introductory paper on the europeanisation of family law, this book mainly compiles a number of cases, annotated with brief references, from the Court of Human Rights (Strasbourg) and the Court of Justice of the European Communities (Luxembourg). Next to this, a series of English, French and German judgements that can be considered as representative for the various tendencies in the field of family law in Europe, are printed with brief references as well. Even though the classic division of legal systems in legal families is at present outpassed and even though the parent systems cannot any longer be considered as representative, this division still keeps its value for primary research. Therefore, because of didactical reasons, no cases from other legal systems are included. As regards the areas of family law, this casebook is limited to the following: civil status, names, personality rights, mentally handicapped persons, marriage, divorce, cohabitation without marriage, affiliation, adoption, parental authority and parental responsibilities.