Academic writing on the place and status of religious tribunals in western societies has focused upon the ‘minorities within minorities’ debate: the extent to which States should intervene to ensure that the citizenship rights of female group members are protected and that religious tribunals do not discriminate on grounds of sex. In a number of recent publications following the Cardiff research on Social Cohesion and Civil Law: Marriage, Divorce and Religious Courts, it has been suggested that the concept of consent should be a key focus in determining whether the State should intervene. However, this article asks instead whether the focus should be on the question of autonomy. In particular, this article examines the need to understand the debate concerning religious tribunals within the wider context of changes within family law where an emphasis has been placed upon individual autonomy. It also compares, explores and critiques the concept of ‘relational autonomy’ as discussed by Jonathan Herring in the context of family law. We agree that developing a concept of autonomy based on the forming of relationships rather than the usual focus on the autonomy of the religious group or on the individual autonomy of those who use religious tribunals provides a way forward. However, we propose a modification of relational autonomy using relational contract theory to employ a relational approach that is ultimately rooted in contract theory. We conclude that Feminist Relational Contract Theory (FRCT) – a theory previously applied to prenuptial agreements –provides, the most appropriate framework in which power imbalances within religious tribunals can be recognised.

中文翻译：

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关系自治和宗教法庭

关于西方社会宗教法庭的地位和地位的学术著作集中在“少数群体中的少数群体”辩论上：国家应在多大程度上进行干预以确保女性群体成员的公民权利得到保护，宗教法庭不歧视以性为由。在 Cardiff 对社会凝聚力和民法的研究：婚姻、离婚和宗教法庭之后的一些近期出版物中，有人建议同意的概念应该是确定国家是否应该干预的关键焦点。然而，这篇文章反而询问是否应该将重点放在自治问题上。特别是，本文探讨了在家庭法变化的更广泛背景下理解有关宗教法庭的辩论的必要性，其中强调个人自治。它还比较、探索和批评乔纳森·赫林 (Jonathan Herring) 在家庭法背景下讨论的“关系自治”概念。我们同意，在建立关系的基础上发展自治的概念，而不是通常关注宗教团体的自治或使用宗教法庭的人的个人自治，提供了一种前进的道路。然而，我们建议使用关系合同理论对关系自治进行修改，以采用最终植根于合同理论的关系方法。