Landmark Cases in Family Law

Description

This book provides in-depth studies of some of the leading family law cases which have shaped modern family law in England and Wales. Family law cases tend to raise highly controversial issues, often on striking facts, frequently provoking wider social debate and/or extensive publicity. Consequently, the landmark cases chosen for this collection provide considerable scope, not only for doctrinal analysis and explanation of the importance and impact of the decisions, but also for in-depth examination of the social or policy developments that influenced them. The stories behind the cases provide a fascinating insight into the complexities of family life and the drama that can be found in the family courts of England and Wales.

Stephen Gilmore is Professor of Family Law at King's College London. Jonathan Herring is a Professor of Law at Oxford University and a Fellow of Exeter College. Rebecca Probert is Professor of Law at the University of Warwick.

The contributing authors read like a who's who of English family law scholars. The book...combines imagination and authority in its presentation and analysis. The contextualisation of the legal analysis is a particular strength: while not a fully socio-legal approach, the chapters give as much weight to the policy implications of these decisions as to their legal consistency and demonstrate how they do indeed represent turning points in the relationship between law and families. Family law scholars outside England will find this a valuable source for understanding how England approaches issues that rouble most national family law systems, often because there are no wholly correct answers. ...few people interested in the field could fail to profit from reading it. The book is beautifully written, nicely produced and just full of intrinsically fascinating material. -- Robert Dingwall * The Law and Politics Book Review, Volume 22, No.7 * Landmark Cases is not overly legalistic, its appeal transcending the world of lawyers, academic and students. The re-telling of the cases includes some enjoyable prose, often peppered with colourful anecdotes that indulge the voyeuristic side of reading cases: the desire to follow the characters beyond the courtroom. Authors employ Panorama anecdotes, snippets from biographies and obituaries, quotes from novels, verse from Keats and Marvell, and even a Giles cartoon, all to entertain the professional and the general reader alike. The book can be read cover-to-cover or chapters can be read in isolation. -- Simon Edward Rowbotham * Child and Family Law Quarterly, Volume 24, No.1 * There are 13 cases here, addressed by some very big names indeed...anyone with intellectual curiosity would enjoy them. Were I an editor, contributor or publisher of this brilliant book I would want it spread, or at least read, way beyond such people both 'sideways' to other disciplines and the general public and 'down' to undergraduate students. Chris Barton Family Law November 2011 -- Chris Barton * Family Law * ...a journey through the 'landmark cases' skilfully selected by the Editors of this Volume provides an effective way of making a study of the law both exciting and pleasurable. But these cases do more than that: they illustrate many of the great changes which have occurred (especially since the end of World War II) in society and in social institutions. The cases discussed also open up many of the fundamental (and often profoundly difficult) moral and social issues which have to be confronted by lawmakers and others who have to resolve them. * From the foreword by Stephen Cretney *