The aim of the Guidelines is to assist professionals, including notaries, lawyers, legal practitioners and other public authorities involved in family and succession matters, when they have to apply EU rules and instruments to non-judicial proceedings. This may include situations in which decisions or authentic instruments are to be issued, or private acts and agreements have to be certified.
The Guidelines were elaborated within the framework of the European Law Institute (ELI) project on the Extra-Judicial Administration of Justice in Cross-Border Family and Succession Matters. After extensive comparative research and consultation with experts across Europe, the text was approved by the ELI Council (30 June 2025) and the ELI Membership (5 August 2025), and the Final Draft was published on 16 September 2025.
They provide easily accessible information, raise awareness, deliver best practices, and facilitate judicial cooperation where non-judicial bodies are competent in family and succession matters. Guidelines should be used to strengthen mutual trust among Member States, and they may even serve as models for reforms in third countries (such as the Western Balkans and Switzerland).
The Principles and Guidelines are directed not only at national legislators, but also at the European legislator and the Court of Justice of the European Union, providing concrete proposals for reform, interpretation, and application of EU private international law instruments.
Content at a Glance
- Aim and Scope: Recommendations to improve the functioning of EU private international law and national laws in cross-border family and succession matters.
- De-judicialisation: Encouragement to transfer competences from courts to notaries, registrars, or lawyers.
- Minimum Standards: Safeguards such as the right to be heard, judicial review, authenticity of party declarations, and the involvement of qualified authorities.
- Jurisdiction and Recognition: Clarification that extra-judicial authorities must respect EU jurisdictional rules; proposal for uniform European certificates to facilitate recognition.
- Legal Certainty: Calls for clear rules, simplified recognition procedures, and the possibility for non-judicial authorities to make preliminary references to the CJEU.
The Guidelines are the outcome of an intensive exchange between academics and practitioners, enriched by a broad dissemination strategy (see more here: https://www.europeanlawinstitute.eu/projects-publications/projects-events/eli-extra-judicial-administration-of-justice-in-cross-border-family-and-succession-matters-events/):
- two international workshops (Pisa and Munich),
- a final conference (Vienna),
- and three online workshops with practitioners (notaries, judges, lawyers).