Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles) ISSN (Print) 1360-9939 - ISSN (Online) 1464-3707 Published by Oxford University Press[370 journals]
Authors:Leckey R. Pages: 131 - 146 Abstract: AbstractWho sues when cohabiting relationships unwind, before and after reform that extends matrimonial sharing of family property to cohabitants' This article reports findings from the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and British Columbia, where reform aimed to divert cohabitants from claims in unjust enrichment. The article reports on a comparison of the litigants in judgments in unjust enrichment pre-reform and under the extended family legislation. Factors studied include the sexes of the plaintiffs and defendants, distribution of household labour, presence of children, relationship duration, and money awarded. The findings show continuity in the profile of litigants, with relatively few claims from short unions post-reform. Money awards increased and patterns of household labour diversified somewhat. Findings highlight that intensifying the financial consequences of cohabitation may multiply disputes over the nature of unions and their duration. These disputes flag up the unlikelihood of achieving wholly identical treatment for married and unmarried partners. The findings might lead opponents and proponents of law reform to temper their discourse. Extending property sharing to cohabitants after a relatively short union (minimum 2 years) did not flood the judicial system. Nor did it eliminate procedural and evidentiary hurdles distinctive to cohabitants relative to married spouses. PubDate: 2017-05-22 DOI: 10.1093/lawfam/ebx002 Issue No:Vol. 31, No. 2 (2017)
Authors:Melville A. Pages: 147 - 173 Abstract: AbstractA McKenzie Friend is a lay person who provides assistance to a self-representing litigant (SRL) in court. Traditionally, McKenzie Friends have been friends, family members or occasionally charities that have provided assistance free of charge. In England and Wales, there is anecdotal evidence that there has been a significant increase in the number of McKenzie Friends supporting SRLs, and, as their numbers have increased, their role has changed. Many are now paid ‘professionals’ who offer a range of legal services. These ‘professional’ McKenzie Friends usually act in family law matters, and some are associated with fathers’ rights groups (FRGs). This article analyses the social media presence of McKenzie Friends associated with FRGs, including how they construct the services they offer and the family law system in which they operate. It shows that many McKenzie Friends associated with FRGs assert that fathers are victims of gender bias in the family justice system, lawyers are unaffordable, untrustworthy, and excessively adversarial, and only McKenzie Friends can produce the outcomes wanted by fathers. While most of their websites support simplistic and decontextualized concepts of ‘formal equality’, other forms of social media, such as Facebook sites and blogs, often explicitly construct family law issues in misogynist terms. Thus, it is argued that McKenzie Friends associated with FRGs promote powerful social myths that support gender inequality and violence against women, and deny children’s rights. PubDate: 2017-05-22 DOI: 10.1093/lawfam/ebx004 Issue No:Vol. 31, No. 2 (2017)
Authors:Gössl S; Verhellen J. Pages: 174 - 190 Abstract: AbstractMany legal systems not only know the concept of marriage but also the one of non-marital registered unions, even though the requirements concerning who can conclude the one or the other union differ, especially regarding the sex of the partners. At the conflict of laws level, most countries show the same approach, i.e. providing two different rules for the validity of each institution. Using the examples of Belgian and the German law, both having very different substantive rules but very similar private international law rules, we show that this distinction itself leads to problems for international couples – even within the European Union – and contradicts the general approach which private international law has regarding the characterization of unknown foreign concepts. Inspired by the 1978 Hague Marriage Convention and several national approaches, we propose one broad conflict of laws rule for marital and non-marital unions, leaving substantive values to the public policy exception. PubDate: 2017-05-22 DOI: 10.1093/lawfam/ebx006 Issue No:Vol. 31, No. 2 (2017)
Authors:Lien I. Pages: 191 - 206 Abstract: AbstractMore than 50 cases of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) have been reported to the Norwegian police over the last 10 years. None has resulted in a conviction. Lack of convictions relative to the number of estimated cases of FGM/C and girls at risk is an issue discussed in many European countries. In the study reported here, 20 out of 53 documented cases in the Norwegian police register have been analysed, and 20 policemen and 5 doctors interviewed. The study finds that there are many obstacles for police work when it comes to producing evidence that can be strong enough for building a case for the courts. Medical forensic experts as well as the Child Protection Services have important roles in the building of a case. This article analyses the challenges that they face, and their collaboration and interaction with the police. The processes of investigation and the action taken by the different systems are stressful and painful for the families and can be experienced as punishment by both guilty and innocent parents. The processes themselves can have a deterrent effect. The study finds that there are greater risks for traumatic stress and painful reactions when families have both cut and uncut daughters. PubDate: 2017-05-22 DOI: 10.1093/lawfam/ebx003 Issue No:Vol. 31, No. 2 (2017)
Authors:Ryan T. Pages: 207 - 229 Abstract: AbstractThis article evaluates the rise of the reverse mortgage as a means for senior citizens to convert equity in family homes into retirement income. It explains reverse mortgages in general terms and outlines the risks and potential benefits of this increasingly popular financial product to assess first, whether the product can be successfully regulated, and second, whether the product is desirable from a wider public policy perspective. The article first compares the regulation of reverse mortgages in the UK, the USA, and Australia. It outlines three models of regulation: minimalist, interventionist, and procedural. The article then evaluates the regulation of reverse mortgages in Japan in its specific legal and economic context. It detects there a recent increase in uptake correlated with a relatively low degree of regulation. It finds that the Japanese reverse mortgage market is ripe for the emerging procedural model of financial regulation, but this depends on surmounting significant political and logistical hurdles. The article then examines Japanese alternatives to reverse mortgages that may provide a more satisfactory means of providing secure housing and retirement income for senior citizens in Japan and other jurisdictions. The article concludes that, in the absence of regulation that genuinely safeguards the interests of consumers, these alternatives are far less risky and are equally compelling from a public policy perspective. PubDate: 2017-05-22 DOI: 10.1093/lawfam/ebx005 Issue No:Vol. 31, No. 2 (2017)
Authors:Harris N; Ryffé D, Scullion L, et al. Pages: 230 - 267 Abstract: AbstractAccess to public education systems has tended to be below normative levels where Roma children are concerned. Various long-standing social, cultural, and institutional factors lie behind the lower levels of engagement and achievement of Roma children in education, relative to many others, which is reflective of the general lack of integration of their families in mainstream society. The risks to Roma children’s educational interests are well recognized internationally, particularly at the European level. They have prompted a range of policy initiatives and legal instruments to protect rights and promote equality and inclusion, on top of the framework of international human rights and minority protections. Nevertheless, states’ autonomy in tailoring educational arrangements to their budgets and national policy agendas has contributed to considerable international variation in specific provision for Roma children. As this article discusses, even between two socially liberal countries, the UK and Sweden, with their well-advanced welfare states and public systems of social support, there is a divergence in protection, one which underlines the need for a more consistent and positive approach to upholding the education rights and interests of children in this most marginalized and often discriminated against minority group. PubDate: 2017-05-22 DOI: 10.1093/lawfam/ebx001 Issue No:Vol. 31, No. 2 (2017)
Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles)
[370 journals]
