Module LAW3601: Comparative Family Law and Policy

Department: Law

LAW3601: Comparative Family Law and Policy

Prerequisites

• LAW1071 (Contract Law)
• LAW1081 (The Individual and The State)
• LAW1121 (Introduction to English Law and Legal Method)
• LAW2121 (Law of Family Relationships)

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To introduce students to the fundamental features and the foundational principles of family law, and allow them to develop an advanced understanding of how family relationships are regulated.
• To introduce students to comparative legal research and methodology in family law, including how to formulate a research question and how to pick which jurisdictions to compare.
• To allow students to deepen their knowledge on basic institutions of family law, including (indicatively) marriage, civil partnership, divorce/dissolution, matrimonial/relationship property, parenthood and parental responsibility, reproduction, cross-border recognition of families etc.
• To challenge students to engage with different jurisdictions, with a particular focus on understanding the differences between common law and civil law jurisdictions, and to draw helpful conclusions on the different ways to regulate a specific area of family law.
• To prepare students for carrying out independent comparative legal research.
• To encourage students to grapple with the wider legal, social, and political debates that inform the regulation of family relationships across different jurisdictions.
• To enable students to develop their analytical skills and ability to use lessons learned from different jurisdictions to critically assess how their home jurisdiction is regulating family relationships and critically evaluate law reform proposals.

Content

• The module is lecture and seminar-based and will cover a range of topics on adult relationships, parent-child relationships, and broader contemporary debates and challenges in family law.
• Seminar topics may vary from year to year according to the instructors on the course but may include the following:
• Relationship formalisation and dissolution;
• Cross-border recognition of LGBT+ family relationships;
• Regulation of non-formalised adult relationships and cohabitation;
• Regulation of assisted reproduction (including surrogacy and gamete donation);
• Gender and family law;
• Trans parenthood;
• Multiple parenthood;
• Children’s rights and human rights law perspectives;
• Decolonial perspectives in family law;
• Matrimonial property models.

Learning Outcomes

• Students should be able to:
• Show an advanced understanding of the main principles and institutions of family law;
• Demonstrate a sound understanding of the main methodologies and contemporary debates in comparative family law;
• Be able to critically engage with the secondary literature and debates surrounding key family law issues.

• Students should be able to:
• Analyse and evaluate the existing law in light of the legal, social, political and moral questions raised, especially in comparison between jurisdictions.
• Appreciate how cultural, social and historical factors affect legal approaches to the problems encountered in family law regulation.
• Engage in informed debate concerning key questions and debates in contemporary family law.

• Students should be able to:
• Demonstrate developed research and writing skills, including the ability to work independently and for the student to take responsibility for their own learning.
• Develop expertise in conducting research into materials from a variety of national and comparative sources.
• Synthesise and critically analyse ideas and arguments.
• Write in a clear and structured way and to put forward ideas in a scholarly manner.
• Demonstrate an ability to explore complex issues creatively in writing.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The Course will be delivered by six 2-hour lectures followed by 2-hour seminars each. Lectures will introduce the students to the topic to be discussed in the respective seminar. The seminar format is chosen to promote research-led teaching and to encourage pre-session reading and preparation followed by in-depth discussion. Seminars will be used to explore a particular topic in great depth, drawing upon different jurisdictions and/or European and domestic institutions.
• The formative assignment is a 1500-word essay and will test the knowledge, critical skills, and research skills of students. It should prepare them for the two summative assessments: a 1000-word blog post on a comparative family law topic and a 2500-word essay on a choice of topics.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One compulsory written essay of no more than 1,500 words.

■ Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.