Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Partnerships: A Study of National, European and International Law

Description

Should same-sex couples be permitted to marry? Or should an alternative institution of "registered partnership" be created for them? Or should the rights and duties of unmarried different-sex couples be extended to them? Should they be allowed to adopt each other's children, or jointly adopt an unrelated child? How should they be treated with regard to employment, social security, pensions, housing, immigration, taxation, inheritance, and divorce? These questions are being debated around the world, as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered persons increasingly (but not uniformly) insist that they cannot be truly equal without equal treatment for the loving and lasting relationships they form with their partners. In "Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Partnerships", an international team of scholars examines both theoretical issues and the wide variety of legal developments in the United States, Canada, Brazil, a dozen European countries, Israel, South Africa, India, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand, as well as under European Community and European Convention law, and United Nations human rights law.

Robert Wintemute is Professor of Human Rights Law at King's College. London. Mads Andenas is Director of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.

Das ultimate BuchDie Herausgeber, Robert Wintemute und Mads Andens, haben auf knapp 800 (!) Seiten alles, aber auch wirklich alles Wissenswerte zu diesem Thema zusammengetragen. -- Kurt Krickler * LAMBDA - Nachrichten * ...debates about the legal status of gay and lesbian relationships. It is difficult to conceive of a more thorough treatment of those debates than that provided in this book. -- Alan Inglis * Family Law * It is excellent, fascinating and very long. I have been very much enlightened by what I have read. the book's length makes it an invaluable comprehensive reference point. None of the individual chapters is over-long, all are interesting, well-written and clear The editor and contributors have collected together material that might otherwise be quite difficult to come by. -- Elizabeth Cooke, University of Reading * Child and Family Law Quarterly * ...extremely timely. It also provides an outstandingly thorough examination of the issues that inform the debate. This book is an invaluable study of the issues that arise in a debate that is currently assuming increasing importance and currency. Any reader who wishes to be informed about these questions will find no better guide. -- Alan Inglis * International Family Law * It is difficult to do justice to this book in a brief review, so rich is the book in information and learning, so sweeping is its scope. This book is surely one of the must-reads for anyone involved in gay and lesbian studies or with international family law. This review only begins to describe the richness of the book. Wintemute and Andenas have provided us with a work on a grand scale. Might we hope for an update of this invaluable work in a few years? -- Bruce MacDougall, University of British Columbia * Adelaide Law Review * The veritable necessity for a book of this ilk is unquestionably long overdue. By providing a theoretical basis of same-sex partnership regulation, followed by in-depth national, European and international legal surveys, this book is an essential tool to all those involved in research related not only to the position of homosexuals within society, but also those involved in family law in a broader sense. In summary, the book's greatest strength lies in its ability to bring together the legal climate of some twenty-three jurisdictions, along with the activity at both the European and international level as well as providing a theoretical basis to the discussion, and in that it is an excellent book. Its objectives are clear and it achieves them in a convincing, yet stimulating manner. -- Ian Sumner * Cambridge Law Journal *