Law through the Life Course, by HerringJonathan, Bristol University Press, Bristol2021, 292 pp, softback and EPUB £29.99, hardback £79.99 ISBN 978-1529204681.

Tying the Knot: The Formation of Marriage 1836–2020, by ProbertRebecca, Cambridge University Press, 2021, 283 pp, £85, Hardback, ISBN: 9781316518281, e-book, ISBN: 9781009003278.

International Survey of Family Law 2021, BrinigMargaret (ed.), Intersentia, Cambridge2021, xviii + 476 pp, £69, ISBN 9781839701573.

Emergency action to safeguard babies at birth who are at risk of significant harm is sanctioned in a number of international jurisdictions, including the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. However, there is widespread international disquiet about this practice, regarding breaches of parents’ Articles 6 and 8 rights (Human Rights Act 1998), as well as the reliability of hasty decisions

Singapore’s adult guardianship law was derived from the Mental Capacity Act in England and Wales. This article explores the process of how Singapore’s Mental Capacity Act was adapted and fine-tuned to operate in a jurisdiction with different cultural conditions, religions, familial norms, and social institutions. The first part of the article demonstrates that despite its apparent similarities, the

Die Frühehe im Recht—Praxis, Rechtsvergleich, Kollisionsrecht, höherrangiges Recht, YassariNadjmaMichaelsRalf (eds), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, 2021, 660pp, €129, Hardback, ISBN 978-3-16-159877-7.

Livsfellesskap—Rettsfellesskap. Festskrift til Tone Sverdrup 70 år, edited by AslandJohnSyseAslakFredwallKatrine KjærheimWærstadTone, Gyldendal, Oslo2021, 424 pp, hardback, ISBN 9788205524491.

Routledge Handbook of Family Law and Policy, edited by EekelaarJohnGeorgeRob, 2nd edition, Routledge, 2021, xv+448 pp, ISBN 9780367195526.

A recent landmark petition in Scotland from a grieving mother seeking to create her own grandchild using the frozen sperm of her deceased transgender daughter has prompted debate on the creation of posthumous grandchildren. This is an unusual use of assisted reproductive technology, and it raises complicated legal and ethical questions. This article undertakes a comprehensive look at the Human Fertilisation

A Magna Carta for Children? Rethinking Children’s Rights, FreemanMichael, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge2020, 566 pp, £29.99, paperback, ISBN 9781316606674.

Although the role of social science research in the family law system has been the subject of scholarly research for some time, less attention has been paid to how operating within the legal system might influence the work of social science and related expert witnesses who perform in that space. This article reports on interviews with family report writers, social science or similar expert witnesses

International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, Volume 35, Issue 1, 2021, ebab034. https://doi.org/10.1093/lawfam/ebab034

Children need guidance and direction to navigate their everyday lives, and such guidance is likely to come from not just parents, but wider family and community. How we acknowledge informal carers and support their caregiving role will have implications for a child’s enjoyment and exercise of rights. Yet, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) does not explicitly recognise ‘kinship’ care

La autoinseminación: decisiones reproductivas privadas y formación de relaciones familiares, Amaia Forcada Rubio, Thomson Reuters Aranzadi, 2020, 400 pp, €47.97, Hardback, ISBN 978-84-1345-618-8.

Cohabitation and Religious Marriage: Status, Similarities and Solutions, edited by AkhtarRajnaara CNashPatrickProbertRebecca, Bristol University Press, Bristol, 2020, 176pp, £45. Hardback, ISBN 978-1-5292-1083-5.

Elderly Care and Upwards Solidarity. Historical, Sociological and Legal Perspectives, AlofsElisabeth and SchramaWendy (eds.), Intersentia, Cambridge-Antwerp-Chicago, 2020, xvi+188 pp, EUR 74.00, paperback, ISBN 978-1-780-68960-9

Law and the Relational Self, HerringJonathan, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2020, 200pp, £85.00, Hardback, ISBN 978-1-108-42513.

Legal Recognition ofNon-ConjugalFamilies: New Frontiers in Family Law in the US, Canada and Europe, PalazzoNausica, Hart Publishing, 2021, 218 pp., £85, ISBN 9781509939954.

This article discusses bride price and numerous problems associated with it from a legal perspective. Two such problems, indeed, the most serious of all, are: (i) bride price objectifies and commodifies women, and this lowers women’s status in society; and (ii) bride price violates a woman’s freedom to choose who to marry as all but young girls, that is, those under the age of 18, are forced into marriage

A History of Divorce Law: Reform in England from the Victorian to Interwar Years, KhaHenry, Routledge, 2021, 200pp, £96, Hardback, ISBN: 978-0-367-42006-2, e-book, ISBN: 978-0-367-81730-5.

Kone Foundation, Finnish Cultural Foundation and Oskari Huttunen Foundation

Die Familienschiedsgerichtsbarkeit in Recht und Praxis—eine rechtsvergleichende Untersuchung des deutschen und englischen Rechts[Family Arbitration in Law and Practice—A Comparative Study of German and English Law], by ZellerhoffSaskia Constanze, Cambridge: Intersentia/Bern: Stämpfli, 2020, 396pp, ISBN 978-3-7272-2606-9, 135 Euros.

La autoinseminación: decisiones reproductivas privadas y formación de relaciones familiares, Forcada RubioAmaia, Reuters AranzadiThomson, 2020, 400 pp, €47.97, Hardback, ISBN 978-84-1345-618-8.

Children’s Constitutional Rights in the Nordic Countries, edited by HaugliTrudeNylundAnnaSigurdsenRandi, and BendiksenLena R L, Leiden: Brill | Nijhoff, 2020, Series: Stockholm Studies in Child Law and Children’s Rights, Volume: 5, pp. xiv + 426, EUR 193, Hardback, ISBN 978-90-04-38280-0 and Open Access

International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, Volume 35, Issue 1, 2021, ebab001, https://doi.org/10.1093/lawfam/ebab001

This article examines discretionary reasoning in child’s best interest (CBI) assessments in two jurisdictions, England and Norway, in decision concerning adoption from care. The two countries’ systems differ in child protection orientations and levels of discretionary autonomy but share the legal and moral yardstick of the CBI. Judgments from the Family Court in England (n = 29) and the County Social

What is the Family of Law? The Influence of the Nuclear Family, AlanBrown, Hart Publishing, 2019, 238pp., Hardback, ISBN: 9781509919581 €60 and paperback, 2020, ISBN 9781509945313, €26.99

This research asks one simple question, a question many studies on the arranged marriage omit to ask, namely “What exactly is the arranged marriage?” Author Naema Tahir, born and bred in the arranged marriage culture, but educated in the free-choice marriage culture, argues that much literature on the arranged marriage fails to offer full exploration of this traditional marital system. Instead, the

Adoption from Care: International Perspectives on Children’s Rights, Family Preservation and State Intervention, edited by PösöTarja, Marit Skivenes and June Thoburn, Policy Press, 2021, xiv + 272pp, GB£13.49, Hardback (and open access ebook), ISBN 978-1-4473-5103-0.

We Are Family: What Really Matters for Parents and Children, by GolombokSusan, Scribe 2020, 320pp, ISBN 978-1912854370. (In the USA published as We Are Family: The Modern Transformation of Parents and Children, Hachette 2020, 320pp, ISBN 978-1541758643)

Children and the European Court of Human Rights, by Claire Fenton-Glynn, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021, pp 464, £80, Hardback, ISBN 978-0-198-78751-8.

AbstractThe law respects essential relationships, most notably marriage. Family members receive various benefits to support the family unit and the relationships within it. While the protection of parental relationships is easily understandable, spousal benefits may be questioned. In the western historical tradition, granting benefits exclusively to marital relationships were justified and practical

With a continuing power of attorney adults may provide for a future period of incapacity. The misuse or abuse of CPAs is a growing concern in many countries, increasingly the question is asked whether CPAs should not be furnished with more safeguards. Article 12(4) UNCRPD requires states to ensure appropriate and effective safeguards are in place to prevent abuse. This article focuses on the question

Medical Decision-Making on Behalf of Young Children: A Comparative Perspective, by GooldImogenAucklandCressidaHerringJonathan (eds), Hart Publishing, 2020, pp 390, Hardback, ISBN 978-1-50992-856-9, Oxford, £80.00

Fundamental Rights and Best Interests of the Child in Transnational Families, by Bergamini Elisabetta, Ragni Chiara (eds.) Intersentia, 2020, pp 320, Hardback, ISBN: 9781780686653, Cambridge, €99

Western jurisdictions have adopted remarkably diverging legal approaches to address unmarried cohabitation, ranging between contractual approaches, registered partnerships, and default regimes. This article explores to what extent the large diversity in cohabitation law is prompted by socio-demographic factors, legal tradition and family ideology. The experiences from Belgium, Sweden, England and Wales

AbstractContemporary Western societies face an increasing demand for informal care. The primary goals of the present article are to understand the degree to which employment rights support the needs of working carers’ of elder age relatives and to underscore the need to promote social policies to better secure both working carers and their older relatives. Drawing on findings showing that high-intensity

A notable aspect of Africa’s struggle with its colonial legacies is the co-existence of indigenous laws that emerged in agrarian settings with state laws that emerged in industrial settings. Given the dissonance in their origins, clashes frequently occur between traditionalists and change agents, especially over the property and succession rights of women, girls, and younger male children. Spurred

Most people whose relationships breakdown are able to reach agreement about parenting and financial matters outside the Australian family court system. Even for those parties who commence litigation, the emphasis remains on reaching an agreement with the vast majority of matters being resolved by consent orders rather than judicial determination. Reaching agreement in relation to parenting and property

La responsabilidad civil en el ejercicio de la parentalidad. Un estudio comparado entre Italia y Colombia, Natalia Rueda, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Bogotá, 2020, 531pp, ISBN 978-958-790-377-5

The Queer Outside in Law: Recognising LGBTIQ People in the United Kingdom, edited by RajSenthorun and DunnePeter, Palgrave Macmillan (Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies), 2021, 287pp, ISBN 978-3-030-48829-1.

This article addresses the position of Turkish law regarding parental equality, with a focus on day-to-day childcare responsibility. It discusses whether the current legal landscape is consistent with the aim of relieving mothers from a disproportionate share of childcare. The article first explains the general legal framework of gender equality in Turkey before offering closer insight into two fields

Love, Labour and Law: Early and Child Marriage in India, by SenSamitaGhoshAnindita (eds.), Sage Stree (India), 2021, pp xxxvi+270, £40.00, Paperback, ISBN 978-93-81345-62-7.

Family Law in America (Third Edition), by KatzSanford N, Oxford University Press, 2021, pp 319, £80, hardback, ISBN 9780197554319.

Safeguarding Children’s Rights in Immigration Law, KlaassenM, RapS, RodriguesP & LiefaardT. (eds), Cambridge: Intersentia, 2020, 263 pp, €75, ISBN 978-1-78068-949-4

BrinigMargaret (ed.), International Survey of Family Law 2020, Cambridge: Intersentia, 2020, pp xvi + 368, £69, ISBN 978-1-78068-973-9.

Under Hindu law, while anciently an illegitimate child was not an alien to his kin as under Common law, the position under the codified Hindu law stood altered, likely as a consequence of the English influence during the colonization of India. This paper, critiquing the treatment of illegitimate children under Hindu law traces the historical link between legitimacy and marriage, and its legal and sociological

Most Latin American countries have increased the legal age of marriage to 16 or 18 years during the last years. However, the numbers of child marriages in Latin America do not reflect those reforms so far. Some reforms might be too recent. But furthermore, the legal age of marriage is only one factor out of many. The legislative reforms regulate civil marriage leaving informal unions and religious

Review of Domestic Abuse and Human Rights, HerringJonathan, Intersentia, 2020, 247pp, 59 €, ISBN 978-1-78068-231-0.

Adults and Children in Postmodern Societies: A Comparative Law and Multidisciplinary Handbook, by Jehanne Sosson, Geoffrey Willems, and Gwendoline Motte (eds.), Cambridge: Intersentia, 2019, pp xxii + 876, EUR 139, Hardback, ISBN 978-1-780-68597-7.

Nicole Busby and Grace James, A History of Regulating Working Families: Strains, Stereotypes, Strategies and Solutions, Hart Publishing Plc, 2020, 174pp, £60.00, Hardback, ISBN 9781509904617

The Interaction between Family Law, Succession Law and Private International Law: Adapting to Change, 240 pp., ScherpeJens M and BargelliElena (eds), Intersentia, 2021

Children’s Rights—the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Danish Law, edited by TrineSchultz, Anne Mørk and Hanne Hartoft, Djøf Forlag: Copenhagen, 2020, ISBN 978-87-574-4488-9, Hardback, 400 DKR

In 2010 the Republic of North Macedonia began the process of drafting the Civil Code, which will be the most significant reform in the field of civil law since its independence in 1991. This reform is expected to include important amendments of the family law, including the regulation of the exercise of parental responsibilities after divorce. The authors in this article make a thorough analysis of

This article discusses the implementation of the right of child custody in the Indonesian Family Law system, which under the Indonesian Marriage Act 1974 does not explicitly regulate the form of custody and ensure the best interests of the child. The research aimed to examine the reasoning by judges (in both the Religious Court and State Courts) and their decisions in child custody disputes, the form

With the legalisation of same-sex marriages by more states, it is a matter of time before jurisdictions that have yet to do so will need to decide on the recognition of foreign same-sex marriages and divorces. Public policy – the unruly horse – peers its head out again even if these marriages and divorces pass the muster of the common law private international law rules. This article explores the role

This article considers the rights of surrogate born children to access information about their origins. Proposals for reform in the UK and Ireland are discussed, and it is argued that there needs to be a greater consideration of children’s rights law in this context. In particular, it is observed that restricting children’s access to identifying information until they are 18 years old must be reconsidered

Colonialism in India consisted of a “civilizing mission” when the British rulers sought to initiate reforms in India, by projecting themselves to be the forerunners of modernity. Ironically, restitution of conjugal rights (RCR) runs contrary to any claims of modernity. Through an RCR, an unwilling spouse could be directed by the coercive machinery of the law to cohabit with his/her spouse, in recognition

AbstractMarital separation, especially when dependent children are involved, is a significant and disruptive event that often involves considerable changes in living standards. This article uses a newly available dataset to provide, for the first time, estimates of the short- to medium-term economic impacts of marital separation for parents of dependent-aged children in New Zealand. Unlike most similar

AbstractIn the 21st century, families are constituted differently to the typical Western Judeo-Christian nuclear family comprising of a mother, father, and children. While some individuals may marry, others may choose not to do so or, at the other end of the spectrum, marry several individuals. This article critically examines whether South African marriage law adequately protects contemporary family