Phillip Taylor MBE review. International Survey of Family Law 2019

BOOK REVIEW

INTERNATIONAL SURVEY OF FAMILY LAW 2019
Edited by Margaret Brinig

ISBN: 978 1 78068 796 4

Intersentia

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN FAMILY LAW WORLDWIDE: STILL AN AREA OF CONTROVERSY

An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers, Reviews Editor, “The Barrister” and Mediator

Those wanting to familiarize themselves with the latest developments in family law around the globe should read this book. Surveying twenty countries from Albania and Australia, to the United States and of course, England and Wales, this volume certainly drives home the fearsome complexity of family law as it is interpreted and applied within a variety of jurisdictions.

Conflicts and controversies in all too many jurisdictions, emerge in the form of clashes between internationally accepted standards of human rights on the one hand and traditional (and unacceptable) cultural attitudes on the other. It becomes evident that certain attitudes, in particular, are apt to give rise to certain cultural practices which, you will notice, impact mainly on women and children, as well as vulnerable minorities.

Published by Intersentia, the book is by no means a treatise on gender equality. That ostensibly is not its purpose. What it does do, over its more than twenty chapters (authored by some twenty-nine expert contributors) is to reveal entrenched injustices and culturally influenced resistance to certain concepts of fundamental rights. In example after example, however, it becomes obvious that human rights violations against women will almost invariably impact on their children.

There are encouraging signs of progress though, in a number of areas ranging from divorce and child abduction to changing definitions of parenting, to surrogacy and much more. Many of these developments do indicate a kind of upward trajectory of progress and attitudinal change. The common thread of opinion in most of the jurisdictions under scrutiny centres on the welfare of the child — and what is best for the child.

In Canada for example, in matters relating to the habitual residence of abducted children, it is stipulated that the view of a child ‘of sufficient maturity’ should be given due weight if, for instance, the child objects to residing in a particular country, or with a particular parent.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) provides that ‘the child… shall be heard in any judicial and administrative proceeding affecting the child either directly or through a representative of an appropriate body, in a manner consistent with the procedural rules of national law.’

Interestingly, we are reminded that the CRC goes back thirty years. The book’s penultimate chapter points out that while this convention has been ratified by 196 ‘state parties’, many of said state parties continue to resist implementing it for a number of reasons, including cultural factors such as the prevalence of patriarchy and gender inequality.

‘Implementation,’ concludes the argument, ‘… is the most critical element in the global effort to create a world fit for all children and is still a problem in many countries.’

Topical, terse and timely, this absorbing and authoritative international survey should be considered essential reading for all family lawyers.

The date of publication of this paperback edition is cited as at 16th September 2019.