Citation

Münch F. D. Eu. FamR. 2011; 2(3): 144-161.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Springer)

DOI

10.1007/s100410050003

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Based on the annual 'International Survey of Family Law' published on behalf of the International Society for Family Law, this article outlines recent global developments in family law. The author pays special attention to developments in the areas of unmarried couples, both homosexual and heterosexual, and of laws relating to children. According to the author, there is proof of a tendency to a shift of paradigm away from marriage towards the family in all the forms it takes in real life, with or without a marriage bond. This is also apparent from the global trend towards abolition of disadvantages for children born out of wedlock (and therefore outside the scope of a presumed marital filiation). As in earlier years, this article also covers aspects of alternative dispute resolution techniques in divorce cases and of equality between husband and wife, and measures against domestic violence as well as legal problems generated by medical progress.