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.

Whenever the legitimacy of a new or ethically contentious medical intervention is considered, a range of influences will determine whether the treatment becomes accepted as lawful medical treatment. The development and introduction of abortion, organ donation, gender reassignment, and non-therapeutic cosmetic surgery have, for example, all raised ethical, legal, and clinical issues. This book examines the various factors that legitimatise a medical procedure. Bringing together a range of internationally and nationally recognised academics from law, philosophy, medicine, health, economics, and sociology, the book explores the notion of a treatment, practice, or procedure being proper medical treatment, and considers the range of diverse factors which might influence the acceptance of a particular procedure as appropriate in the medical context. Contributors address such issues as clinical judgement and professional autonomy, the role of public interest, and the influence of resource allocation in decision-making. In doing so, the book explores how the law, the medical profession, and the public interact in determining whether a new or ethically contentious procedure should be regarded as legitimate. This book will be of interest and use to researchers and students of bioethics, medical law, criminal law, and the sociology of medicine. Chapter 6 of this book 'Family perspectives on proper medical treatment for people in prolonged vegetative and minimally conscious states' by Celia Kitzinger and Jenny Kitzinger is available under an open access CC BY NC ND license and can be viewed at: http://preview.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/prevqa/NBK199156/ .

Children make up half of the world's refugees and over 40 per cent of the world's asylum seekers. However, children are largely invisible in historical and contemporary refugee law. Furthermore, there has been very limited interaction between the burgeoning children's rights framework, in particular the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugee Convention). This book explores the possibility of a children's rights approach to the interpretation of the Refugee Convention and within that what such an approach might look like. In order to construct a children's rights approach, the conceptualisations of children outside the legal discipline, within international children's rights law and then within refugee law and refugee discourse are analysed. The approach taken is socio-legal and comparative in nature and the suitability of the Refugee Convention as a framework for the interpretation of child claims is examined. The book analyses to what extent the Refugee Convention is capable of dealing with claims from children based on the modern conceptualisation of children, which is underscored by two competing ideologies: the child as a vulnerable object in law to be protected and the child as subject with rights and the capacity to exercise their agency. The influence each regime has had on the other is also analysed. The work discusses how a children's rights approach might improve outcomes for child applicants. The book makes an original contribution to child refugee discourse and as such will be an invaluable resource for academics, researchers and policymakers working in the areas of migration and asylum law, children's rights and international human rights law.

Focusing on juvenile transfer and disposition evaluations, this volume provides an up-to-date integration of current law, science, and practice with respect to juvenile risk assessment, treatment needs/amenability, and sophistication-maturity. Included are perspectives relating to international practices, use of specialized assessment tools, and a separate chapter on resentencing following US Supreme Court decisions on juveniles sentenced to mandatory life without parole. This text will be a useful and comprehensive reference for forensic psychologists and other mental health professionals engaged in juvenile evaluation, as well as legal professionals, juvenile and criminal justice professionals, and others involved with juvenile assessment, decision-making, and rehabilitation.

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.

As the radical reforms contained in the Enterprise Act 2002 have come fully on-stream, Personal Insolvency Law has become a major focus of attention. At the same time, all evidence points to increasing levels of personal debt with the consequential rise in bankruptcies. Personal Insolvency Law, Regulation and Policy therefore provides a timely evaluation of the current state of English law in this important area. The volume presents a critical analysis of the regimes of bankruptcy and individual voluntary arrangement in the context of current policy goals. It examines the impact of the Insolvency Act 2000 and the Enterprise Act 2002, and discusses the treatment of bankruptcy within the global economy. The book will be a valuable guide for students and academics engaged in the study of this increasingly important branch of private law. The study will also be of value to practitioners and policy makers.

This book focuses on Islamic family law as interpreted and applied by judges in Europe, Australia and North America. It uses court transcriptions and observations to discuss how the most contentious marriage-related issues - consent and age of spouses, dower, polygamy, and divorce - are adjudicated. The solutions proposed by different legal systems are reviewed , and some broader questions are addressed: how Islamic principles are harmonized with norms based on gender equality, how parties bargain strategically in and out of court, and how Muslim diasporas align their Islamic worldview with a Western normative narrative.

Child care law and policy issues generate very strong emotions and some crucial questions concerning the role of the state. For instance, under what circumstances should the state be able to intervene and use the force of the law to protect children? Do children have similar rights to adults? Such questions are matters of controversial debate and, in the light of well publicised child abuse cases, official inquiries and a government review led to the passing of the Children Act in 1989. Perspectives in Child Care Policy presents four different value perspectives on child care policy - laissez-faire; state paternalism; defence of the birth family and children's rights. These perspectives differ in their underlying values, concepts and assumptions concerning children, families, the rights and powers of parents and the role of the state.

Cultural and religious identity and family law are inter-related in a number of ways and raise various complex issues. European legal systems have taken various approaches to meeting these challenges. This book examines this complexity and indicates areas in which conflicts may arise by analysing examples from legislation and court decisions in Germany, Switzerland, France, England and Spain. It includes questions of private international law, comments on the various degrees of consideration accorded to cultural identity within substantive family law, and remarks on models of legal pluralism and the dangers that go along with them. It concludes with an evaluation of approaches which are process-based rather than institution-based. The book will be of interest to legal professionals, family law students and scholars concerned with legal pluralism.

With contributions by recognised experts in the field of education law, this book is a comparative study of the resolution of special education disputes, including via mediation. It analyses the varying approaches in England, Scotland, the US and the Netherlands and addresses major questions of dispute resolution, redress, judicial and non-judicial approaches and the protection of citizens' rights. The first review of mediation in citizen v. state disputes outside the context of the courts, this topical book also incorporates findings from a recent ESRC study into dispute resolution in special educational needs cases. It will not only be of interest to those concerned with education issues but also those interested in administrative justice, especially the role of mediation generally

It has been acknowledged for some years that the early onset of delinquency can predict a long and serious criminal career. Most resources are targeted at the teenage years but this book argues convincingly that more research and interventions should be aimed at child delinquents aged 12 and under. Tomorrow's Criminals addresses key problems in criminological research and makes studies from the Netherlands more accessible to a wider audience. It provides information and analyses on risk factors and reviews screening tools and risk-focused prevention methods. The contributions increase visibility and accessibility of European policy and practice in the explanation and prevention of child delinquency.

This book describes and analyses the notion of Mahr, the Muslim custom whereby the groom has to give a gift to the bride in consideration of the marriage. It explores how Western courts, specifically in Canada, the United States, France, and Germany, have approached and interpreted Mahr. Although the outcomes of the cases provide an illustrative framework for the book, the focus is broader than simply the adjudicative endeavours. The work explores the concept of liberalism, which purportedly champions individuals and individual choice concurrently with freedom and equality. Tensions between and among these concepts, however, inevitably arise. The acknowledgment and exploration of these intertwined tensions forms an important underpinning for the book. Through the analysis of case law from these four countries, this study suggests that transplanting Mahr from Islamic law into a Western courtroom cannot be undone: it immediately becomes rooted in the countries' legal, historical, political, and social backgrounds and flourishes (or fails) in diverse and unexpected ways. Rather than being the concept described by classical Islamic jurists, Mahr is interpreted according to wildly varied legal constructs and concepts such as multiculturalism, fairness, public policy, and gender equality. Moreover, Islamic law travels with a multiplicity of voices, and it is this complex hybridity (a fragmented and disjointed Mahr) which will be mediated through Western law. Returning to the overarching concept of liberalism, the book proposes that distributive consequences rather than recognition occupy central place in the evaluation of the legal options available to Muslim women upon divorce.

Providing interdisciplinary and empirically grounded insights into the issues surrounding gender and migration into and within Europe, this work presents a comprehensive and critical overview of the historical, legal, policy and cultural framework underpinning different types of European migration. Analysing the impact of migration on women's careers, the impact of migration on family life and gender perspectives on forced migration, the authors also examine the consequences of EU enlargement for women's migration opportunities and practices, as well as the impact of new regulatory mechanisms at EU level in addressing issues of forced migration and cross-national family breakdown. Recent interdisciplinary research also offers a new insight into the issue of skilled migration and the gendering of previously male-dominated sectors of the labour market.

The Civil Partnership Act 2004 (CPA) and the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2014 (MSSCA) are important legal, social and historical landmarks, rich in symbolic, material and cultural meanings. While fiercely opposed by many, within mainstream narratives they are often represented as a victory in a legal reform process that commenced with the decriminalisation of homosexuality. Yet, at the same time, for others they represent a problematic and ambivalent political engagement with the institution of marriage. Consequently, understood or labelled as 'revolutionary', 'progressive' and 'conservative', these legal reforms provide a space for thinking about issues that arguably affect everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or relationship status. This edited collection brings together scholars and commentators from a range of backgrounds, generations and disciplines to reflect on the first ten years of civil partnerships and the introduction of same-sex marriage. Rather than rehearsing the arguments 'for' and 'against' relationship recognition, the essays ask original questions, draw on a variety of methods and collectively provide a detailed and reflective 'snap shot' of a critical moment, a 'history of the present' as well as providing a foundation for innovative ways of thinking about and engaging with the possibilities and experiences arising from the new reality of relationship recognition for gays and lesbians.

This volume provides an essential update on current thinking, practice and research into the use of restorative justice in the area of family violence. It contains contemporary empirical, theoretical and practical perspectives on the use of restorative justice for intimate partner and family violence, including sexual violence and elder abuse. Whilst raising issues relating to the implications of reporting, it provides a fresh look at victims' issues as well as providing accounts of those who have participated in restorative justice processes and who have been victims of abusive relationships. Contributions are included from a wide range of perspectives to provide a balanced approach that is not simply polemic or advocating. Rather, the book genuinely raises the issue for debate, with the advantage of bringing into the open new research which has not been widely published previously. Given its unique experience in the development of restorative justice, the book includes empirical studies relating to New Zealand, contextualized within the global situation by the inclusion of perspectives on practices in the UK, Australia and North America. This book will be key reading for people who work with violent offending of a family nature as well as for those who are interested in the study of family violence.

Taking a cross-cultural perspective, this book explores how privatization and globalization impact contemporary feminist and social justice approaches to public responsibility. Feminist legal theorists have long problematized divisions between the private and the political, an issue with growing importance in a time when the welfare state is under threat in many parts of the world and private markets and corporations transcend national boundaries. Because vulnerability analysis emphasizes our interdependency within social institutions and the need for public responsibility for our shared vulnerability, it can highlight how neoliberal policies commodify human necessities, channeling unprofitable social relationships, such as caretaking, away from public responsibility and into the individual private family. This book uses comparative analyses to examine how these dynamics manifest across different legal cultures. By highlighting similarities and differences in legal responses to vulnerability, this book provides important insights and arguments against the privatization of social need and for a more responsive state.

Focusing on moral, social and legal responsibilities as opposed to rights or obligations, this volume explores the concept of responsibility in family life, law and practice. Divided into four parts, the study considers the nature of family responsibility; constructions of children's responsibilities; shifting conceptions of family responsibilities; and family, responsibility and the law. The collection brings together leading experts from the disciplines of sociology, socio-legal studies and law to discuss responsibilities prior to birth, responsibilities for children, as well as responsibilities of children and of the state towards family members. The volume informs and challenges the developing conceptualization of responsibilities which arise in interdependent, intimate and caring relationships and their legal regulation. It will be of great interest to researchers and practitioners working in this complex field.

This volume provides a series of critical analyses of some of the contemporary debates in relation to the human rights of children, resituating them within visions which informed the text of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989. The studies embrace examination of some of today's widespread interpretations of the CRC, analysis of what is implied by a human rights-based approach in research and advocacy and consideration of advances and barriers to research and to several aspects of CRC implementation. With contributions by leading experts in the field, the book examines the CRC as an international instrument, its inherent dilemmas and some of the debates generated by the challenges of implementation. It embraces examinations of different levels of governance from the international to the state party, regional and local levels, including institutional developments and changes in law, policy and practice. The book will be a valuable resource for students, researchers and policy-makers working in the area of children's rights and welfare.

Marriage migration is a controversial and problematic issue in the UK as elsewhere in Europe. This timely analysis is a comprehensive examination of the regulation of marriage migration into the UK. With international relevance, the book uses the analysis to examine the relationship between government priorities and the dynamics of transnational family life. The book is one of the first to scrutinise the control of UK marriage migration after 1997 and explores the dilemmas faced by the post-1997 government in managing this form of migration in a changed domestic and international environment. Using high-quality sources from across the political spectrum, it analyses regulatory decisions made by government, the judiciary and the visa service, and suggests that there is an unofficial and unarticulated hierarchy predicated on assumptions and beliefs about acceptable marriages. Finally, the book establishes a principled basis for the future regulation of marriage migration.

This volume considers the impact that changing family norms have had on the responsibilities that the law allocates to people in family relationships. Contributions are drawn from a wide variety of jurisdictions in which scholars, lawyers, judges and policy-makers have been trying to discern what the appropriate correlation should be between the responsibilities that people undertake in family settings and the law that regulates family responsibilities. Part I looks at the changes that have occurred in adult relationships and what they have done for our sense of the family responsibilities that adults take for one another. Part II reflects on the changing nature of the parental relationship in order to reconsider the way in which changing family structures affect the responsibilities we think people raising children should have. The third part brings the rights discourse that has dominated jurisprudence for much of the last fifty years into the discussion of family transformation and the responsibilities to which it gives rise. In the final section the authors reflect on the difficulties of trying to resolve the meaning of responsibility in a world of changing families. The collection brings together some of the most eminent and imaginative scholars and judges working in this area. It will be a valuable resource for all those interested in the legal regulation of the transforming family.

Combining feminist legal theory with international human rights concepts, this book examines the presence, participation and treatment of children in a variety of contexts. Specifically, through comparing legal developments in the US with legal developments in countries where the views that children are separate from their families and potentially in need of state protection are more widely accepted. The authors address the role of religion in shaping attitudes about parental rights in the US, with particular emphasis upon the fundamentalist belief in natural lines of familial authority. Such beliefs have provoked powerful resistance in the US to human rights approaches that view the child as an independent rights holder and the state as obligated to proved services and protections that are distinctly child-centred. Calling for a rebalancing of relationships within the US family, to become more consistent with emerging human rights norms, this collection contains both theoretical debates about and practical approaches to granting positive rights to children.

Clear, straightforward explanations and easy-to-follow examples ensure students' understanding of what is often considered a complex and difficult subject. Lively, humorous writing style and focus on real people and real situations help to bring equity and trusts to life, challenging preconceptions and engaging even the most resistant of students Focus on areas of contemporary interest and rapid recent development such as the family home; charities law and commercial uses of trusts to help students to see how the law impacts on individuals and businesses every day. Shorter, punchier and more accessible to a broader range of students than Alastair Hudson's classic textbook, this is sure to appeal to today's time-pressured law student. New edition updated to include the latest developments in case law.

This collection discusses how official legal systems do and should respond to the reality of a plurality of family types and origins within their jurisdictions. It further examines the challenges that arise for practitioners, including lawyers and judges, when faced with such plurality. Focussing on empirical research, the volume presents legal and sociological data of unprecedented comparative depth. It also includes a discussion of how members of minority families respond to the need to organise their legal relationships, and to resolve their disputes in the shadow of official legal systems which differ from those of their familial and communal traditions. The work invites reflection, and demonstrates the urgency and complexity of the questions regarding the search for justice in the field of family life in Europe today.

This important new text is the product of several years of research of the family law of fifteen Commonwealth Caribbean jurisdictions. It is the first and only legal text that comprehensively covers all the main substantive areas of spousal family law, including marriage, divorce, financial support, property rights and domestic violence. The rights of the statutory spouse in the jurisdictions of Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago are examined, thus addressing, on a jurisdictional basis, an important area of spousal family that is seldom covered in English family law texts. The book also covers the number and variations of divorce regimes applicable to the region - the matrimonial offence divorce model of Guyana and Montserrat, the English five fact model of Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, Grenada, Anguilla, and St Vincent and the Grenadines, the hybrid model of Antigua and Barbuda, Belize and St Kitts and Nevis, and the no fault model of Jamaica and Barbados. This book will prove an indispensable resource for law students and legal academics, as well as for family law practitioners across the English-speaking Caribbean. Other professionals, including sociologists and social workers, will also find the book useful and informative.