Description:
With regard to family law, this volume examines claims based on cultural tradition, ethnic background, custom, religious affiliation and sexual orientation, as well as various other "claims" that are not officially recognized in state law, in 15 jurisdictions around the world.
The country reports seek to determine whether these claims represent a challenge to family law as conceived by the state, and if so, how these challenges are being managed. The focus lies on the interaction between (i) claims and traditions raising minority-related and diversity-related issues and (ii) the state as the addressee of these demands for accommodation. The reports identify specific instances and situations that have proven (and in many cases still are) particularly difficult to resolve. They force decision-makers to engage in a delicate balancing act between different, often clashing interests.
Review Quotes: "This collection is an outstanding example of comparative family law: it proffers that vital starting point for bringing these deeper theoretical questions about the role and limits of the state in the regulation of religious family life into relief." (Tristan Cummings, International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, Vol. 37 (1), 2023)