Common Law System

In common law system the law of the domicile is the personal law of natural persons. The concept of domicile is governed by five principles. The first is that no one shall be without a domicile. This necessity can be explained by the fact that domicile is in English law, the sole determinant of the personal law. Indeed, it is one of the weaknesses of legal systems which have opted for nationality as a determinant of the personal law that a person may be stateless and may, thus not possess the required connecting link. The second principle is that no one can simultaneously have more than one domicile. The justification for this is that domicile, being the sole determinant of the personal law, must be exclusive, otherwise a further determinant

A person’s domicile of origin depends on the domicile of one of that person’s parents at the time of birth, not on the place of birth, nor on the parents’ residence at that time. There are several rules for determining the domicile of origin, a legitimate child takes the child’s father’s domicile, an illegitimate child or child born after the father’s death, both take the child’s mother’s domicile, and a foundling or one whose parent’s domicile is unknown is domiciled in the place where he or she is found or born. In one situation only, the domicile of an adopted child, the domicile of origin can be changed after the child’s

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has shed some light on the notion of habitual residence in the context of child abduction, pointing out that this is a question to be decided by the national court in light of the specific factual circumstances. According to the CJEU, such factors may include the duration, regularity, conditions and reasons for the child's stay in a given place and the family's move there, the child's nationality, the place where they attend school, what languages they speak, as well as their family and social relationships. Within the sphere of social security, the Court underlined that habitual residence has an autonomous meaning under EU law. It indicated that it corresponds to the habitual centre of interests of a person, adding that in order to assess where someone's habitual residence is located, the length of residence,the length and purpose of absence, as well as he person’s apparent intention must be taken into account. A person can be resident in one place and habitually resident in another, this is why these two notions differ from one another, as stated already