Our articles are written by experts in their field and include barristers, solicitors, judges, mediators, academics and professionals from a range of related disciplines. Family Law provides a platform for debate for all the important topics, from divorce
and care proceedings to transparency and access to justice. If you would like to contribute please email
editor@familylaw.co.uk.
Reflections on family law: What is ‘family’?
© Copyright LexisNexis 2024. All rights reserved.
Reflections on family law can occur in the most unusual of places. After a recent delayed flight from London to Chicago (taken by Michael), a couple were asked at customs whether they were family. Both gave conflicting answers: she said yes, and he said no! Over the jet-lagged fueled bickering, it got Michael thinking about how the concept or term ‘family’ can mean different things to different people. It turned out this couple were living together as boyfriend and girlfriend but their difference of opinion on whether they were family members recalled the recent lecture given by the former President of the Family Division, Sir James Munby.
In his lecture given to the University of Liverpool on 30 May 2018, the then President made the point that before considering what family law means, one should first address the question of what is ‘family’. As he highlighted in his lecture, there was a time when most people probably thought that the answer was clear and obvious. Nowadays it is not so simple.
Read the full article here.
