Webinar Speakers:

Martina
Erb-Klünemann
European Judicial Network (EJN) Judge & International Hague Network Judge (IHNJ). Family Judge, Hamm District Court, Germany

Dr Joanna Guttzeit
European Judicial Network (EJN) Judge & International Hague Network Judge (IHNJ). Family Judge, Family Court, Berlin, Germany

Martina Erb-Klünemann is a German family court judge. She worked as a judge in civil law and criminal law cases at various courts before her appointment as a family judge in 1996. In this capacity she is responsible for international family conflicts pending at Hamm District Court as the centralized court for the District of Hamm Court of Appeals. Because of her wide experience in cross-border family conflicts and her particular interest in international family law and the European peculiarities she is often asked to share her knowledge in Germany and abroad. She was a member of the working group on drafting the Hague Guide to Good Practice on art. 13 (1) (b) of the 1980 Hague Convention as well as of the European Judicial Network Working Group on Family Mediation in International Child Abduction Cases and chairperson of the German Working Group on Implementing the Mediation Process in 1980 Hague Convention Proceedings. Martina Erb-Kliinemann has led the annual German Judges’ Seminars on the Hague Convention on Child Abduction since 2008. She publishes on different aspects of international family law including commentaries on the 1980 Hague Convention and the Brussels IIb-Regulation and on implementing mediation into these proceedings. She is the co-author of a text book on international family law which she wrote together with the lawyer Niethammer-Jürgens. She runs worldwide courses in cross-border family law and training courses on the integration of mediation in addressing cross-border family conflicts. She consults States in improving their national law in order to deal in a more effective way with return proceedings under the 1980 Hague Convention. Her main focus is on strengthening the rights of children and supporting families in finding an amicable solution. Contact: martina.erb-kluenemann@ag-hamm.nrw.de

Dr Joanna Guttzeit a judge, graduated from the Law Faculty of the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany and from the Adam-Mickiewicz-University in Poznań, Poland. She received her Phd in Law from the Karl-Ruprecht-University in Heidelberg in Germany. After working as a judge in Cologne for several years, she was seconded 2015-2017 to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Currently, Dr Guttzeit works at the Pankow/Weißensee Family Court in Berlin, where she is in charge of proceedings involving international cases (child abduction, maintenance etc). She is also a liaison judge within the International Hague Network of Judges and the European Judicial Network in Civil and Commercial Matters

Véronique Chauveau
Family Lawyer,
Avocat à la cour
Ancien secrétaire de la conférence

António José Fialho
International Hague Network Judge (IHNJ). Judge at the Évora Court of Appeal; Presiding Judge of the District Court of Setúbal, Portugal

Véronique Chauveau is a French lawyer and founding partner of CHAUVEAU MULON et Associés, a leading Paris-based law firm specializing in family and international family law. A member of the Paris Bar since 1984, she holds a Master’s degree in Law from the Sorbonne University and graduated from the Paris Lawyers School (EAB).

With nearly four decades of experience, Ms. Chauveau is recognized internationally as an expert in Hague Convention child abduction cases and cross-border family disputes. She has acted as an expert before courts in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Turkey, and Russia, among others, and has served as a consultant for the EU, GIZ, and the U.S. State Department.

A member of numerous international organizations—including the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (IAML), LEPCA, MIKK, and REUNITE—she also lectures regularly at law and judicial training institutions in France and abroad.

Ms. Chauveau is the author of three books on family and international law, including Droit de la famille (Le Seuil), Ruptures (Autrement), and International Family Law (Jordan Publishing). Her work continues to advance the practice and understanding of international family justice.

António José Fialho is judge at the Évora Court of Appeal, currently on a commission as Presiding Judge of the District Court of Setúbal. He is the Portuguese liaison judge for the International Hague Network of Judges. He has worked as a judge in Barreiro, Cuba/Portel and Seixal. He holds a Master’s degree in Nova School of Law (Lisbon). Judge António José Fialho is also a published author and guest speaker on family and children’s law, civil procedure and electoral procedure. He identifies himself as a husband, father and grandfather and a children’s worker.