Balancing a child's welfare interests and rights so as to ensure recognition and respect for his or her autonomous identity, while facilitating family unity, has become a major challenge for modern family law. This book, following on from The Principle of the Welfare of the Child: A History, examines, contrasts, and compares the response of England and Wales and Ireland to that challenge. It does so by applying the same matrix of indicators to explore, in each country, the distinction between welfare interests and rights and to trace changes in the balance between them. By profiling the nations in accordance with the same indicators, it reveals important jurisdictional differences in the extent to which welfare interests or rights determine how the law is currently applied to children.

Deciding Children's Futures addresses the thorny task of how to assess parents and children who belong to struggling families where there are issues of neglect or significant harm, and when separating parents are contesting arrangements for the care of their children. This is a practitioner's guide: it discusses how to create relationships that are capable of breaching natural parental defences to assessment; the importance of keeping an open mind, how to ask questions that fathom people's experiences, and how to develop understanding of their histories, narratives, worries, hopes and fears. Joyce Scaife's approach draws on practice knowledge, theory and research findings with a view to integrating the accounts of parents and children with safeguarding imperatives and government guidance, thereby enabling professionals to make informed decisions designed to impact positively on children's futures. This accessible and comprehensive book will be of great interest to 'expert' witnesses, practising social workers, children's guardians, solicitors, barristers, magistrates and mental health professionals. Joyce Scaife is a clinical psychologist with over 15 years of experience in carrying out assessments for the family court. She is former Director of Clinical Practice for the Doctor of Clinical Psychology training course at the University of Sheffield.

Changes in family structures, demographics, social attitudes and economic policies over the last 60 years have had a large impact on family lives and correspondingly on family law. The Second Edition of this Handbook draws upon recent developments to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date global perspective on the policy challenges facing family law and policy round the world. The chapters apply legal, sociological, demographic and social work research to explore the most significant issues that have been commanding the attention of family law policymakers in recent years. Featuring contributions from renowned global experts, the book draws on multiple jurisdictions and offers comparative analysis across a range of countries. The book addresses a range of issues, including the role of the state in supporting families and protecting the vulnerable, children's rights and parental authority, sexual orientation, same-sex unions and gender in family law, and the status of marriage and other forms of adult relationships. It also focuses on divorce and separation and their consequences, the relationship between civil law and the law of minority groups, refugees and migrants and the movement of family members between jurisdictions along with assisted conception, surrogacy and adoption. This advanced-level reference work will be essential reading for students, researchers and scholars of family law and social policy as well as policymakers in the field.

Written from an ethnographic perspective, this book investigates the socio-legal aspects of Islamic jurisprudence in Gaza-Palestine. It examines the way judges, lawyers and litigants operate with respect to the law and with each other, particularly given their different positions in the power structure within the court and within society at large. The book aims at elucidating ambivalences in the codified statutes that allow the actors to find practical solutions to their (often) legally unresolved problems and to manipulate the law. The book demonstrates that present-day judges are not only confronted with novel questions they have to find an answer to, but, perhaps more importantly, they are confronted with contradictions between the letter of codified law and their own notions of justice. The author reminds us that these notions of justice should not be set a priori; they are socially constructed in particular time and space. Making a substantial contribution to a number of theoretical debates on family law and gender, the book will appeal to both academic and non-academic readers alike.

Using a socio-legal framework, this book explores the experiences that birth mothers face in state sanctioned adoption proceedings in the UK. Featuring personal, in-depth interviews and conversations with 32 birth mothers, the book highlights perspectives and voices that are seldom the focus in leading discourses of professional practice in this area of law. The book also demands that the statutory rights, support and care of birth mothers are recognised and strengthened. This book delivers a comprehensive insight into many aspects and controversies of legal child adoption, including the development and reform of adoption law over history, giving the reader insight into the deep-rooted political and social tensions around the use of adoption. The uniqueness of birth mothers' subjective stories of adoption contrasts powerfully with the legal theory providing the reader with an intimate paradigm of adoption. The book includes discussion of obiter dicta and authoritative guidance on adoption practice from the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal in Re B (A Child) (Care Proceedings: Appeal) [2013] UKSC 33 and Re B-S (Children) (Adoption: Leave to Oppose) [2013] EWCA Civ 1146. It also considers Court of Appeal's recent ruling on post adoption contact in Re B (A Child) (Post-Adoption Contact) [2019] EWCA Civ 29, the first case to come before the court since section 9 of the Children and Families Act 2014 amended the Adoption and Children Act 2002, with the new insertion of section 51A and 51B providing for court ordered post adoption contact. This book is ideally suited to undergraduate students, as well as a more multi- disciplinary audience.

This groundbreaking book contributes to, and refocuses, public debates about the incorporation of plural approaches into the English legal system. The book specifically advances the recent, largely theoretical, discussions of Sharia legal practice by examining a secular method of dispute resolution as practised by the Kurdish Peace Committee in London. Following migration to the West, many Kurds still adhere to traditional values and norms. Building on these, they have adapted their customary legal practices to create unofficial legal courts and other forms of legal hybridisation. These practical solutions to the challenges of a pluralistic life are seen by Kurdish communities in the UK as applicable not only to British and transnational daily life, but also as a training ground for institutions in a possible future Kurdish state. The study provides a substantive evidence base using extensive ethnographic data about the workings of the Kurdish Peace Committee, examining detailed case studies in the context of the customs and practices of the Kurdish community. Based on an ethnographic and interdisciplinary approach, this book will be of interest to policy makers, socio-legal professionals, students and scholars of legal anthropology, ethnic minority law, transnationalism, diaspora, Kurdish, Turkish and Middle Eastern studies.

This book examines the rights of the child using the global framework of the United Nations International Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989. Analysing both public and private international legal aspects, this cross-disciplinary text promotes a holistic understanding of the ongoing development of child law, children's rights and the protection of the child. In-depth analyses of the following topic areas are included: Childhood in the digital age; Child labour; International parental child abduction; Inter-country adoption; Sexual exploitation; Children and armed conflict; and Indigenous children. These topics are contextualised with further chapters on the concept of childhood and children's rights, the international legal framework in which the Convention operates and a substantive chapter on the Convention itself. This fourth edition has been updated and revised, including a new chapter dealing with issues arising from childhood in the age of unprecedented digital technological advancements; a crucial issue for childhood experiences in modern times. This edition also includes new case studies, recent legal developments in the field of international child law, and inclusion of broader scholarship to capture diverse views on international law and child law. The aim of this book is to provide the reader with an accessible, informed, critical and scholarly account of the international law framework relating to children. Drawing on a range of legal and other disciplines, this book remains a valuable resource for those in the course of study and research in this area.

This book brings together legal scholars engaging with vulnerability theory to explore the implications and challenges for law of understanding vulnerability as generative and a source of connection and development. The book is structured into five sections that cover fields of law where there is already significant recourse to the concept of vulnerability. These sections include a main chapter by a legal theorist who has previously examined the creative potential of vulnerability and responses from scholars working in the same field. This is designed to draw out some of the central debates concerning how vulnerability is conceptualised in law. Several contributors highlight the need to re-focus on some of these more positive aspects of vulnerability to counter the way law is being used enable persons to escape the stigma associated with vulnerability by concealing that condition. They seek to explore how law might embrace vulnerability, rather than conceal it. The book also includes contributions that seek to bring vulnerability into a non-binary relationship with other core legal concepts, such as autonomy and dignity. Rather than discarding these legal concepts in favour of vulnerability, these contributions highlight how vulnerability can be entwined with relational autonomy and embodied dignity. This book is essential reading for both students studying legal theory and practitioners interested in vulnerability.

This comprehensive Commentary provides an in-depth, article-by-article analysis of the Rome III Regulation, the uniform rules adopted by the EU to determine the law applicable to cross-border divorce and legal separation. Disputes on family matters form part of everyday litigation in the EU, with around 140,000 international divorces per year; this Commentary offers a clear legal understanding of the Regulation that governs this increasingly significant area of family law. Written by a team of renowned experts on private international law in relation to family matters, chapters contextualize and examine the provisions of the Regulation, with clear insight into the rationale behind the text. The contributors engage critically with each article, analysing Rome III's overall effectiveness and offering a balanced critique from a variety of European perspectives. Private international law scholars and practitioners alike will find this Commentary an incisive and useful point of reference. It will be of particular interest to those working in family law, including judges, lawyers, public notaries and family mediators, as well as graduate students looking for in-depth knowledge of the subject. Contributors include: A. Boiche, L. Carpaneto, C. Chalas, S. Corneloup, S. Dominelli, P. Franzina, C. Gonzalez Beilfuss, S.L. Goessl, P. Hammje, B. Heiderhoff, F. Jault-Seseke, N. Joubert, T. Kruger, C. Rupp, J. Verhellen

Child Abuse and Neglect examines the latest research on this important topic, discussing what it entails, how to recognize it, and how to report it. The book begins with an overview of child maltreatment including its history, a summary of the research, and the risk factors, before exploring issues of mandated reporting. It then considers different forms of maltreatment - physical abuse, neglect, psychological maltreatment, sexual abuse, fetal abuse, and Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome. The authors discuss incidence estimates and consequences, as well as resiliency, for each type of maltreatment, and then review legal issues including forensic interviewing. The book concludes by providing an overview of what happens to a child after a report is filed along with suggestions for preventing child maltreatment. This edition has been thoroughly updated throughout to cover the latest theory and research. Referencing the DSM-V, the book also features updated coverage of state and federal laws to reflect new legislation, and additional case studies covering real-world events such as the sexual abuse scandals within USA Gymnastics, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Southern Baptist Convention. Written with students in mind, the book features a wealth of engaging learning tools throughout, including: Theory Highlight boxes, Focus on Research boxes, Case Examples, Legal Examples, Focus on Law boxes, Discussion Questions, and Key Terms. It will be essential reading for all students taking courses on child abuse, child maltreatment, family violence, or sexual and intimate violence taught in psychology, human development, education, criminal justice, social work, sociology, women's studies, and nursing. This book will also be an invaluable resource to workers who are mandated reporters of child maltreatment and/or anyone interested in the problem. This book is based on the legal system and the Child Protection System in the United States of America. It is accompanied by a set of online instructor resources.

This book explores the intersecting issues relating the phenomenon of ageing to gender and family law. The latter has tended to focus mainly on family life in young and middle age; and, indeed, the issues of childhood and parenting are key in many family law texts. Family life for older members has, then, been largely neglected; addressing this neglect, the current volume explores how the issues which might be important for younger people are not necessarily the same as those for older people. The significance of family, the nature of family life, and the understanding of self in terms of one's relationships, tend to change over the life course. For example, the state may play an increasing role in the lives of older people - as access to services, involvement in work and the community, the ability to live independently, and to form or maintain caring relationships, are all impacted by law and policy. This collection therefore challenges the standard models of family life and family law that have been developed within a child/parent-centred paradigm, and which may require rethinking in the turn to family life in old age. Interdisciplinary in its scope and orientation, this book will appeal not just to academic family lawyers and students interested in issues around family law, ageing, gender, and care; but also to sociologists and ethicists working in these areas.

Advances in the field of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) have been revolutionary. This book focuses on the use of ARTs in the context of families who seek to conceive a matching sibling donor as a source of tissue to treat an existing sick child. Such children have been referred to as 'saviour siblings'. Considering the legal and regulatory frameworks that impact on the accessibility of this technology in Australia and the UK, the work analyses the ethical and moral issues that arise from the use of the technology for this specific purpose. The author claims the only justification for limiting a family's reproductive liberty in this context is where the exercise of reproductive decision-making results in harm to others. It is argued that the harm principle is the underlying feature of legislative action in Western democratic society, and as such, this principle provides the grounds upon which a strong and persuasive argument is made for a less-restrictive regulatory approach in the context of 'saviour siblings'. The book will be of great relevance and interest to academics, researchers, practitioners and policy makers in the fields of law, ethics, philosophy, science and medicine.

Published in 1999. Despite considerable comment about divorce reform and the post-divorce family, in the press and in academia, by professionals and politicians, much has been left unsaid. There are 'undercurrents' of divorce which are not visible and are not discussed because they do not fit into the dominant discursive framework for talk about divorce. This book brings these undercurrents to the surface and does two things. It explains how and why aspects of divorce and the lives of those divorcing, have become marginalized in professional and political discussion and it makes visible the practical and legal effects of such exclusion. It argues that there are good policy reasons for this particular socio-legal critique at this time, as the implementation of the Family Law Act 1996 gets underway.

Unaccompanied minor migrants are underage migrants, who for various reasons leave their country and are separated from their parents or legal/customary guardians. Some of them live entirely by themselves, while others join their relatives or other adults in a foreign country. The concept of the best interests of a child is widely applied in international, national legal documents and several guidelines and often pertains to unaccompanied minor migrants given that they are separated from parents, who are not able to exercise their basic parental responsibilities. This book takes an in-depth look at the issues surrounding the best interests of the child in relation to unaccompanied minor migrants drawing on social, legal and political sciences in order to understand children's rights not only as a matter of positive law but mainly as a social practice depending on personal biographies, community histories and social relations of power. The book tackles the interpretation of the rights of the child and the best interests principle in the case of unaccompanied minor migrants in Europe at political, legal and practical levels. In its first part the book considers theoretical aspects of children's rights and the best interests of the child in relation to unaccompanied minor migrants. Adopting a critical approach to the implementation of the Convention of Rights of a Child authors nevertheless confirm its relevance for protecting minor migrants' rights in practice. Authors deconstruct power relations residing within the discourses of children's rights and best interests, demonstrating that these rights are constructed and decided upon by those in power who make decisions on behalf of those who do not possess authority. Authors further on explore normative and methodological aspects of Article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of a Child and its relevance for asylum and migration legislation. The second part of the book goes on to examine the actual legal framework related to unaccompanied minor migrants and implementation of children's' rights and their best interests in the reception, protection, asylum and return procedures. The case studies are based on from the empirical research, on interviews with key experts and unaccompanied minor migrants in Austria, France, Slovenia and United Kingdom. Examining age assessment procedures, unaccompanied minors' survivals strategies and their everyday life in reception centres the contributors point to the discrepancy between the states' obligations to take the best interest of the child into account when dealing with unaccompanied minor migrants, and the lack of formal procedures of best interest determination in practice. The chapters expose weaknesses and failures of institutionalized systems in selected European countries in dealing with unaccompanied children and young people on the move.

Children's rights law is often studied and perceived in isolation from the broader field of human rights law. This volume explores the inter-relationship between children's rights law and more general human rights law in order to see whether elements from each could successfully inform the other. Children's rights law has a number of distinctive characteristics, such as the emphasis on the 'best interests of the child', the use of general principles, and the inclusion of 'third parties' (e.g. parents and other care-takers) in treaty provisions. The first part of this book questions whether these features could be a source of inspiration for general human rights law. In part two, the reverse question is asked: could children's rights law draw inspiration from developments in other branches of human rights law that focus on other specific categories of rights holders, such as women, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, or older persons? Finally, the interaction between children's rights law and human rights law - and the potential for their isolation, inspiration or integration - may be coloured or determined by the thematic issue under consideration. Therefore the third part of the book studies the interplay between children's rights law and human rights law in the context of specific topics: intra-family relations, LGBTQI marginalization, migration, media, the environment and transnational human rights obligations.

This title was first published in 2001. When marriages break down, most parents experience difficulty in agreeing on contact or residence arrangements for their children. Family Courts Services provide mediation as a way of resolving differences and many parents accept this offer of assistance. Featuring extensive empirical research, this book examines the effectiveness of family mediation services and challenges the view that court-based interventions are unlikely to be successful.

Covering the mental health expert's many roles as therapist, mediator, evaluator, consultant to attorneys, expert witness, and more, Philip M. Stahl's Conducting Child Custody Evaluations: From Basic to Complex Issues addresses key topics such as the best interests of the child, custody and time share, divorce and its impact on children, and children's developmental needs. From tackling the terror of testifying to critiquing your own child custody evaluations and avoiding bias inherent in this work, this practical and easy-to-read book offers comprehensive coverage vital to practitioners in this field.

Key Facts and Key Cases: Family Law will ensure you grasp the main concepts of your Family Law module with ease. This book explains in concise and straightforward terms: * The law relating to marriage and its breakdown * Recent developments in money cases * All recent cases relating to private and public child law Helen L. Conway is a former practising barrister, now District Judge. She is an experienced law author and has taught law in both the academic and commercial sectors. Key Facts and Key Cases is the essential series for anyone studying law at LLB, postgraduate and conversion courses and professional courses such as ILEX. The series provides the simplest and most effective way to absorb and retain all of the material essential for passing your exams. Each chapter includes: * diagrams at the start of chapters to summarise key points * structured headings and numbered points to allow for clear recall of the essential points * charts and tables to break down more complex information Chapters also contain a Key Cases section which provides the simplest and most effective way to absorb essential cases needed for exam success, using a simple and memorable visual checklist: * Essential and leading cases are explained * The style, layout and explanations are user friendly * Cases are broken down into key components by use of a clear system of symbols for quick and easy visual recognition Series editors: Jacqueline Martin LLM, has ten years' experience as a practicing barrister and has taught law at all levels and Chris Turner LLM, who is a Senior Lecturer in law at Wolverhampton University.

This book tackles a complex area of law, social policy and social work, providing a comprehensive analysis of the theoretical, practical and legal boundaries of State power following safeguarding and child protection referrals in England. The book examines the history, rationale and implications of the current position, concluding that the balance of power is weighted in favour of the State. The Limits of State Power & Private Rights is ground-breaking in its approach to the subject and its detailed, critical analysis. Traditionally the subject matter of the book is considered within a welfare framework. The analysis in this book argues that a policing agenda is embedded within policy but without appropriate safeguards and controls, creating potentially irreconcilable tension described by the author as the 'welfare/policing dichotomy'. This book is of importance to academics, lawyers, social workers, policy makers, practitioners and service users. The book is written so as to be accessible to a multi-disciplinary audience, but is sufficiently detailed so as to be suitable for specialists and non-specialists alike in this subject area. The chapters include introductory and contextual sections as well as doctrinal, theoretical and socio-legal analysis. Although the focus is on the English system, the book is equally applicable to the many worldwide jurisdictions adopting the Anglo/American 'child rights' based framework of child protection. It is also of use as a comparative work in countries where a family support based system is practiced.

Parents Killing Children: Crossing the Invisible Line explores hidden forms of violence within the family. This socio-legal study addresses the interactions between the family and the state, focusing on six parent perpetrators and the ways in which child endangerment is concealed within society. Drawing on symbolic interactionism, mythology and a modelling of case study data, this book puts forward a unique conceptualisation of representation and risk, both on familial and state levels. The failure of the state to intervene and neutralise volatile perpetrators also sheds light on the socio-legal status of children - society's most vulnerable - and the book concludes by discussing means by which the underlying social conditions and maladies symptomatic of child abuse and killing should be addressed.

Concern is growing about children's rights and the curtailment of those rights through the excesses of neoliberal governance. This book discusses children's spatial and citizenship rights, and the ways young people and their families push against diminished rights. Armed initially with theoretical concerns about the construction of children through the political status quo and the ways youth rights are spatially segregated, the book begins with a disarmingly simple supposition: Young people have the right to make and remake their spaces and, as a consequence, themselves. This book de-centers monadic ideas of children in favor of a post-humanist perspective, which embraces the radical relationality of children as more-than-children/more-than-human. Its empirical focus begins with the struggles of Slovenian Izbrisani ('erased') youth from 1992 to the present day and reaches out to child rights and youth activists elsewhere in the world with examples from South America, Eastern Europe and the USA. The author argues that universal child rights have not worked and pushes for a more radical, sustainable ethics, which dares to admit that children's humanity is something more than we, as adults, can imagine. Chapters in this groundbreaking contribution will be of interest to students, researchers and practitioners in the social sciences, humanities and public policy.

Authors have consulted leading figures such as Peter Fonagy and Rohan de Silva to ensure that research is up to date.

Almost every contested financial case raises issues of enforcement. Even if these do not materialise it is essential for practitioners to be alive to them when they are negotiating settlements or pursuing an application for financial orders. There is little point securing a large settlement for your client if it is incapable of enforcement. Although enforcement is a fundamental aspect of financial remedy proceedings, it is a topic which many practitioners find difficult. 1KBW on Enforcement in Financial Remedy Proceedings provides guidance in and understanding of this complex area of law. Differing from other sources currently available, this title is dedicated specifically to issues of enforcement, which are addressed more comprehensively (both in terms of substantive and procedural law) than the other sources are able to deal with them. It also covers international cases where especially difficult issues are often thrown up, so the authors offer some practical guidance on how such issues might be addressed. Key legislation covered: - Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 * Family Procedure Rules 2010 * Civil Procedure Rules 1998 * Attachment of Earnings Act 1971 * Charging Orders Act 1979 * Contempt of Court Act 1981 * Debtors Act 1872 * Senior courts Act 1981 * County Courts Act 1984 * Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1972 * Maintenance Enforcement Act 1991

Collaborative practice is a new method of dispute resolution, used mainly in family law matters. By taking a non-adversarial approach, it challenges the strictly positivist view of the lawyer as 'zealous advocate' for the client. As such, it has received much criticism from the established Bar and legal profession. This book provides a doctrinal and empirical analysis of collaborative practice with a view to assessing its place within the dispute resolution continuum and addressing whether this criticism has been justified. It begins by establishing the theoretical underpinnings of conflict and differing approaches to conflict resolution, the impact of the comprehensive law movement and therapeutic jurisprudence. The origins and development of the collaborative process and the framework it provides for a multidisciplinary approach to conflict resolution is outlined. The book addresses the examination of the process undertaken in the lead up to the enactment of the Uniform Collaborative Law Act in 2010; now regarded as a model of best practice. Finally, through an examination of empirical research undertaken in the US, Canada and in England and Wales, and in presenting the results of the first known empirical research into the process in an Irish family law context, the book concludes with an evidenced based analysis of the process from the perspective of couples who chose to use the collaborative model to resolve the issues surrounding their relationship breakdown, collaborative lawyers and lawyers who do not advocate a non-adversarial approach. As such this book provides a valuable insight into the process which will be of interest to: academics; practising lawyers; members of the judiciary; researchers in the fields of conflict resolution and family law and for students studying alternative dispute resolution (ADR).