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Saint-Barthélemy (Saint Barts)

Jurisdiction code: BL · Legal system: civil-law
Language(s): fr

Saint-Barthélemy is a Caribbean civil-law French overseas collectivity (Collectivité d'outre-mer / COM) — structurally distinctive within French overseas territory cluster as one of two COMs (with Saint-Martin) achieving COM autonomy from Guadeloupe DROM on 22 February 2007 via 2003 referendum. Saint-Barthélemy is also structurally distinctive globally for its 1784-1878 Swedish colonial period (Sweden's only Caribbean colony ever), accounting for its capital Gustavia being named after Swedish King Gustav III. Family-law framework operates under the French Civil Code with COM-specific adaptations under the Organic Law 2007-223 (Statut). Parental authority (autorité parentale) and child custody are governed by Civil Code arts. 371-387. The Court of Appeal of Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe) has jurisdiction over Saint-Barthélemy matters; final appellate jurisdiction lies with the French Court of Cassation in Paris. Family-law matters are heard at first instance in the Tribunal de Première Instance de Saint-Barthélemy. Psychology profession is regulated through the French Republic professional framework as applicable in Saint-Barthélemy. Saint-Barthélemy is silent on 'parental alienation' as a statutory label; courts operate substantively under the French interest-of-the-child standard. Saint-Barthélemy is a Hague Convention 1980 party via French Republic territorial extension effective 1 December 1983.

PA recognition status

  • Statutory: silent
  • Apex court position: no-apex-position
  • Professional regulator position: silent

Statutory framework

  • French Civil Code arts. 371-387 (applicable in Saint-Barthélemy) — French Civil Code — Parental authority (1804) — https://www.cour-de-cassation.fr/
  • French Civil Code applicable in Saint-Barthélemy with COM-specific adaptations. Arts. 371-387 govern autorité parentale and child custody.
  • Organic Law 2007-223 of 21 February 2007 (Statut of Saint-Barthélemy) — Statut of Saint-Barthélemy (2007) — https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/
  • Federal Organic Law establishing Saint-Barthélemy's COM autonomy from Guadeloupe DROM effective 22 February 2007 following 2003 referendum.

Apex courts

Court of Appeal of Basse-Terre (Cour d'appel de Basse-Terre) — Saint-Barthélemy jurisdiction

https://www.cour-appel-basse-terre.justice.fr/

French Court of Cassation (Cour de Cassation)

https://www.cour-de-cassation.fr/

Professional regulators

Anonymisation convention

Saint-Barthélemoise family-court decisions are anonymised per Court of Appeal practice using initials.

Key developments

  • 1784 — France ceded Saint-Barthélemy to Sweden in exchange for trading privileges in Gothenburg — Sweden's only Caribbean colony ever (1784-1878).
  • 1878 — Sweden ceded Saint-Barthélemy back to France following a referendum of inhabitants.
  • 1983 — Hague Convention 1980 territorial extension by France to Saint-Barthélemy effective 1 December 1983.
  • 2003 — Saint-Barthélemy voted 95.51% in favour of COM autonomy from Guadeloupe DROM.
  • 2007 — Federal Organic Law establishing Saint-Barthélemy's COM autonomy effective 22 February 2007.

Structural findings

  • Saint-Barthélemy operates a French-civil-law framework with COM autonomy — places Saint-Barthélemy in the French overseas collectivity cluster.
  • 1784-1878 Swedish colonial period is structurally distinctive globally — Sweden's only Caribbean colony ever and Saint-Barthélemy's distinctive Swedish-heritage capital name (Gustavia).
  • COM autonomy from Guadeloupe DROM (2007) is structurally distinctive — only French DROM-to-COM separation in recent history (with Saint-Martin).
  • Distinctive tax regime under COM Statut is structurally significant — Saint-Barthélemy has fiscal autonomy from metropolitan France.
  • Hague Convention 1980 applicability via French Republic territorial extension reflects COM Hague jurisdiction status.

See also

  • jurisdiction:france
  • jurisdiction:guadeloupe
  • jurisdiction:saint-martin
  • jurisdiction:sweden
  • evidence:cross-border-parental-abduction-and-pa-intersection
  • evidence:childrens-rights-paramountcy-doctrine

Sources

  1. Court of Appeal of Basse-Terre — https://www.cour-appel-basse-terre.justice.fr/ (Court of Appeal) [fr]
  2. Légifrance — https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/ (French Government) [fr]

Editorial notes

  • Saint-Barthélemy jurisdiction sidecar — civil-law Caribbean French COM (French Civil Code + Statut 2007 COM autonomy from Guadeloupe DROM + Swedish colonial heritage 1784-1878 + Gustavia capital + Hague via French Republic territorial extension 1983). Sweden's only ever Caribbean colony.
  • PA-recognition: silent statutory + no-apex-position + silent regulator.
  • Joins Caribbean + civil-law + French-COM cluster + Swedish-colonial-heritage-distinctive + DROM-to-COM-separation-2007 + Hague-via-French-Republic-territorial-extension clusters within the corpus.

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