Party autonomy is becoming more prevalent in substantive family law, and therefore private international law should find a method of incorporating party autonomy into family law. This should be done in a way that takes account of the specific characteristics of family life. Currently the EU Regulations take a disjointed and incoherent approach to party autonomy in family law, and do not consider specific issues relating to the family. There is no clear explanation of why this is and it appears to be related to the fragmented development of the EU family law instruments. This inconsistency is not only apparent across the instruments but also within the instruments, suggesting that the discrepancies are not context-specific. This article argues that it is possible to have a consistent approach to party autonomy across all areas of family law while catering for family specific issues. A consistent approach will allow families to resolve their disputes within one legal system, rather than the more complicated situation which confronts some families due to the fragmentation of jurisdiction required by the current legal rules.

中文翻译：

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欧盟的政党自主权，前后矛盾和家庭法的特定特征

政党自治在实体家庭法中越来越普遍，因此国际私法应该找到一种将政党自治纳入家庭法的方法。这样做的方式应考虑到家庭生活的特定特征。目前，欧盟法规在家庭法中对当事人自治采取不连贯和不一致的方法，并且未考虑与家庭有关的特定问题。目前尚无明确的解释，这似乎与欧盟家庭法文书的零散发展有关。这种不一致不仅在文书之间很明显，而且在文书内部也很明显，这表明差异不是特定于上下文的。本文认为，在解决家庭特定问题的同时，有可能在家庭法的所有领域采用一致的方式实现政党自治。一致的做法将使家庭能够在一个法律体系内解决纠纷，而不是由于现行法律规则要求的管辖权分散而使一些家庭面临的更为复杂的情况。