Family Law Issues, Debates, Policy

This book provides a stimulating, carefully planned introduction to the key issues and debates within family law from some of the leading authorities within their field. It is designed both as a self standing book focusing on the key issues in the subject, and as a supplement to more detailed textbooks on the subject. It is essential reading for anybody studying or practising in the field of family law. Each chapter is concerned with one of the main areas of family law (such as adoption, domestic violence, marrriage and divorce), and covers a range of themes, including the public/private divide, balancing the interests of family members, moral values and family law, cost and the legal system, and the enforcement of family law. The book reflects the interdisciplinary nature of the debates on family law, and the difficult social and political issues which these have raised.

Introduction 1. Marriage and divorce: the regulation of intimacy, Stuart Bridge 2. Division of property upon relationship breakdown, Louise Tee 3. Domestic violence: the public-private divide and victim autonomy, Joanna Miles 4. Parents and children, Jonathan Herring 5. Public law children's cases: whose decision is it anyway?, Bridget Lindley, Jonathan Herring and Nicola Wyld 6. Adoption law: a balance of interests, Caroline Bridge

Jonathan Herring is a Fellow at Exeter College, Oxford University. His research interests focus on contract law, criminal law, medical law, and ethics, and he has published widely in these areas.