The Commission on European Family Law published its Principles of European Family Law Regarding Divorce and Maintenance Between Former Spouses in 2004 as a contribution towards the establishment of a European Family Law. Only by empirical testing of the Principles in a number of legal systems can one demonstrate whether they are acceptable and/or are regarded as an improvement on existing national laws. This edited volume seeks to test the Principles in a range of legal systems, some already considered by the CEFL: France, Scandinavia, England, Scotland; some untested: Malta, Estonia, Lithuania and Turkey; and in so doing to assess these legal systems in view of the Principles, and the Principles in view of these legal systems. The final part of the volume is a comparative assessment of the findings, looking at the Principles first as harmonious ideals, and then as shortfalls in these ideals and at the obstacles to harmonisation

The Child's Interests in Conflict addresses one of the most pressing issues of any multicultural society, namely the conflicting demands on children from minority groups or children born to parents of different cultural or religious backgrounds. What the family considers to be in the child's best interests and welfare in the studied situations is not shared by society at large. Each guided by faith, culture and tradition, society views the child to be exposed to a significant harm or risk of harm if certain traditions are followed, whereas in contrast the parents believe that their child is harmed or in harm's way if that tradition is not respected.Focusing primarily on Europe, the contributions in this book, written by internationally leading experts and with a interdisciplinary element, address situations of conflict regarding the child's upbringing and education in general, the shaping of the child's cultural or faith-based identity, underage marriages, circumcision of boys, the role of faith and culture in society's placements of children outside the care of their family, and the role of faith in cross-border child abduction and disputes over parental responsibilities. Attention is paid to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and to less well-known national case law, as well as to recent national legislation, all of which show not only the complexity of the issues discussed but also the differing ways multicultural challenges are dealt with.The authors strive to answer, inter alia, how legal systems should navigate between the competing claims and conflicting interests without forgetting the main person to be protected, namely the child; and how the scope of tolerance, recognition and autonomy should be defined.

To what extent does family law accommodate, deny, support or reflect the existence of religion and religious belief in a range of jurisdictions and throughout various family and social situations? This collection of comparative essays brings together reflections on a range of religions, including Islam, Judaism and Roman Catholicism. With insights, both historical and contemporary, from Ireland, Israel, Malta, Sweden, Russia, Turkey and the UK, it seeks to discover the place which religion has or might have within family law.

This book discusses a number of important themes in comparative law: legal metaphors and methodology, the movements of legal ideas and institutions and the mixity they produce, and marriage, an area of law in which culture - or clashes of legal and public cultures - may be particularly evident. In a mix of methodological and empirical investigations divided by these themes, the work offers expanded analyses and a unique cross-section of materials that is on the cutting edge of comparative law scholarship. It presents an innovative approach to legal pluralism, the study of mixed jurisdictions, and language and the law, with the use of metaphors not as an illustration but as a core element of comparative methodology.

Avizandum Statutes are designed specifically to provide undergraduates at Scottish universities with legislation and, where appropriate, other core materials in a readily accessible format. All materials have been selected on the basis of their relevance to university courses and appear in updated form. The lack of annotation and commentary means that the volumes are ideal for use in examinations.

Avizandum Statutes on Scots Family Law contain a comprehensive selection of the main legislative provisions relating to child law and adult domestic relations.

This book discusses a number of important themes in comparative law: legal metaphors and methodology, the movements of legal ideas and institutions and the mixity they produce, and marriage, an area of law in which culture - or clashes of legal and public cultures - may be particularly evident. In a mix of methodological and empirical investigations divided by these themes, the work offers expanded analyses and a unique cross-section of materials that is on the cutting edge of comparative law scholarship. It presents an innovative approach to legal pluralism, the study of mixed jurisdictions, and language and the law, with the use of metaphors not as an illustration but as a core element of comparative methodology.

Avizandum Statutes on Scots Family Law contain a comprehensive selection of the main legislative provisions relating to child law and adult domestic relations. All materials are reproduced in updated form. Changes consequential on the UK's departure from the European Union have been incorporated.This well-established volume has now been adapted for practitioner use and includes the principal Rules of Court regulating family law actions.