Changement volontaire du nom, titres nobiliaires et ordre public: l'arrêt Bogendorff von Wolffersdorff Printer-friendly version

Abstract

(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2016 1(3), 1205-1213 | European Forum Insight of 29 November 2016 | (Table of Contents) I. Les faits de l'affaire au principal. - II. Le raisonnement de la Cour de justice. - III. L'évolution de la jurisprudence de la Cour de justice en matière de nom. - IV. Les particularités de l'arrêt Bogendorff von Wolffersdorff. | (Abstract) In a recent ruling (judgment of 2 June 2016, case C-438/14, Bogendorff von Wolffersdorff) concerning the recognition in a Member State of the name and surname of a dual national, freely chosen in another Member State and containing a number of tokens of nobility, the Court of Justice focused on the proportionality of the refusal of recognition justified on public policy grounds. In spite of the analogies with Sayn-Wittgenstein, and, in particular in spite of the fact that the refusal to recognise the name was aimed at guaranteeing the principle of equality before the law, enshrined in the German law and in article 20 of the Charter of fundamental rights, the Court underlined the peculiarities of the concrete situation, leaving to the referring court the assessment of the proportionate nature of the practice at issue.

Keywords

• name
• dual nationality
• obstacles to the free movement of eu citizens
• public policy
• principle of equality before the law
• proportionality