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Abstract: As we reach the end of this decade the current fight for orientation equality appears to be at a crossroads. Formal grants of orientation equality have been numerous over the last few decades, but inequality on the ground, de facto inequality, appears to linger. This dissertation fills holes in the existing scholarship by exploring real-world discrimination in the adjudication of custody disputes against parents labelled by the courts as gay, lesbian or homosexual. I examine real-world, de facto bias against gay parents in custody adjudications through the use of three separate methodologies: semi-structured interviews of gay parents (and their attorneys), a textual analysis of judicial decisions available through Lexis and Westlaw, and a randomized, controlled experiment. I find that gay parents and their attorneys report significant anti-homosexual bias in the custody adjudication process and on the fringes of that process, a significant difference in bias across both parental gender and gender of the child at issue, and a belief that these biases are moderated by judicial religiosity and disgust sensitivity. Through a textual analysis of judicial decisions available on Westlaw and Lexis I find that gay parents have suffered a significant disadvantage in terms of custody outcomes when compared to their heterosexual peers, and continue to face a significant outcome disadvantage in terms of visitation restrictions. I further find that the evaluation of their parental fitness is routinely marred by judicially held homophobic stereotypes, the majority of which appear to violate legal side constraints, and that the intersectional impact of gender bias creates unique burdens across both parental gender and gender of the child at issue. Through experimental analysis, I find that individual disgust sensitivity predicts custody denial for gay male fathers, but not for lesbian mothers or heterosexual parent of either gender. Moreover, this finding remains even after controlling for normative beliefs that might also explain an orientation or gender bias: traditional gender role beliefs, moral traditionalism and sexual prejudice. I further find that political ideology moderates custody outcomes, but only for gay male fathers. Conservative political ideology interacted with sexual orientation to predict the imposition of visitation restrictions when the parental fitness of fathers was at issue, but this interaction did not produce significant results when the parental fitness of mothers was at issue.

Ideja ovog rada je istaknuti kompleksnost načela ravnopravnosti i njegovu rasprostranjenost u obiteljskom pravu. Navodeći brojne međunarodne ugovore koje je Hrvatska implementirala u svoje zakonodavstvo te domaće propise koji uređuju sve obiteljskopravne institute, prezentirat će se postojeći pravni okvir i položaj načela ravnopravnosti u njemu. Kroz sudsku praksu, prikazat će se učinkovitost odnosno neučinkovitost tih propisa. Ravnopravnost je često korišteni termin koji je zajamčen mnogim dokumentima, ali njegova dosljedna primjena je ključ uspjeha. Iako jest jedno od stožernih načela kako obiteljskog prava, tako i života općenito, još uvijek postoje situacije u kojima je provođenje ravnopravnosti otežano ili onemogućeno., The idea of this thesis is to accentuate the complexity of principle of equality and its prevalence in family law. Legal framework and position of principle of equality will be presented by stating many international agreements that Croatia impelmented in its legislation and national laws that arrange instituts in family law. Equality is highly used term that is guaranteed with many agreements, but its consistent use is the key of success. Principle of equality is one of fundamental principles of family law, but there are situations when its enforcement is impossible.

Although the impact of mass incarceration on families is universally recognized, less analyzed is what, if any, the family law response should be. In particular, once the parent is no longer incarcerated, what weight should a parent's criminal conviction be given in making determinations about the children of that parent? In Pennsylvania, where the author directs a family law clinic, the custody statute is hyper-criminalized. Since 1990, the Pennsylvania custody statute has had a rebuttable presumption of threat of harm attached to certain criminal convictions which were listed in the custody statute, but there were only 11 crimes enumerated in the statute. In 2010, Pennsylvania amended its custody statute to expand the list of crimes which create a rebuttable presumption of threat of harm to a child. If a party or household member of a party has been convicted of one of the crimes enumerated in the custody statute, that party may not be granted custody until a court has made an explicit finding that the party does not present a threat of harm to the child(ren). The central question this article seeks to address is as follows: are there good family law reasons for a presumption regarding criminal convictions in custody matters? By considering social science literature and legal sources, the article will evaluate the value of giving weighted consideration to certain crimes in determining the best interest of children. This article will also make recommendations regarding the weight that should be given to criminal convictions in making best interest custody decisions.

The marriage of minors by their parents has been recognized by most Islamic jurists. Unlike the others, the Hanafi sect imams kept the boundaries of these parents very wide, but they decided to prevent the negativity of the children by recognizing the choice of adolescence. This was also the case in the Ottoman Empire based on the Hanafi sect. However, the issue of the legitimacy of the marriage of minors, in other words, the issue of marriage is a matter that is discussed and discussed by contemporary Islamic jurists. However, in the studies on the subject, it is hardly mentioned how this view is adopted and applied by Islamic societies. In this study, it has been tried to reach some determinations about whether the marriage of minors and parental unauthorized matter are common in Islamic society within the framework of practices. However, due to the Ottoman period, the records of the applications in the Ottoman period were focused on the applications. Although Adana documents are used as the main source, data from some maritime books belonging to different regions of the Ottoman Empire have been used. In addition, the article about the marriage of minors in the Family Law Decree and the criticisms against this article were compared with the findings. Thus, in this study, it was aimed to draw a general framework about what the size of the practices related to marrying minors in the Ottoman society until the year 1917, when the decree was written.The issue of custody in marriage is a matter that is discussed and kept up-to-date by Islamic jurists from the period of imams to the present. What is the custody of this issue, the framework of the authority of the parent and the persons who are under the custodians, are discussed in detail. It is stated that there is no difference of opinion except for a few opinions about the fact that it can be married by the parents of the young girls and boys. Even in some studies today, some comments are made that the marriage of minors is contrary to the Qur'an. However, in relevant studies, the extent to which this view is adopted and implemented by Islamic societies is hardly mentioned. Again, in the marriage of adolescent girls who are said to be the focal point of the problem, the dimensions of the authority of the parent are discussed on the theoretical ground, but the extent to which such marriages are concluded in Islamic societies is not over-emphasized. In this study, marriage of minors and parents' unauthorized marriage practices will be discussed by taking into account the short theoretical knowledge and practical reflections. There are some examples from the Ottoman period as the records that reflect the practices belong to the Ottoman period. In the study, while the 18th century Adana documents are used as the main source, the data obtained in some marriage books will be used as the place where they are. As a result of this study, it was determined that the marriage of minors was not as common as in Ottoman society. In the 18th century Adana documents, there are no special marriage registers in which marriage contracts are recorded regularly, but information is provided in the cases that are reflected in the court. In addition, article 7 of the Family Law Decree prohibiting the marriage of minors was criticized and the information given revealed that the marriage of minors was extremely rare in the Ottoman society. Considering this information, it can be concluded that the marriage of minors in the Ottoman society is very rare. However, much more detailed research is needed to say whether marriage is common in Ottoman society. Therefore, by examining similar marriage registers in this respect, healthier results can be achieved.It is not true that the marriage to which the minor is a party may be unrecorded. Because for something to be unregistered, it must not be recognized by law. The marriage of minors was accepted as legitimate by all sects and the subject was included in the fiqh books. Therefore, there are no data indicating that the marriage of minors is not consciously recorded, and there is no reasonable justification for this. In the case of parental consent, we can say that in the 18th century in Adana the marriage process was very difficult to realize in the process of marriage without the consent of women and men. In particular, women can appeal to marriages that they do not want, and if there is nothing contrary to the law, these objections are decided by the court., Küçüklerin velileri tarafından evlendirilmesi İslam hukukçuların çoğu tarafından muteber kabul edilmiştir. Diğerlerinin aksine Hanefî fakihler velilerin sınırını çok geniş tutmuşlar, bununla birlikte küçüklere buluğ muhayyerliği hakkı tanıyarak oluşabilecek olumsuzlukları önleme yoluna gitmişlerdir. Hanefî mezhebini esas alan Osmanlı Devleti’nde de uygulama bu yönde olmuştur. Öte yandan küçüklerin evlendirilmesinin meşruiyeti konusu, diğer bir tabirle evlenmede velâyet konusu, günümüz İslâm hukukçuları tarafından tartışılan ve güncelliğini koruyan bir meseledir. Ne var ki konuyla ilgili yapılan çalışmalarda bu görüşün İslâm toplumları tarafından ne derece benimsendiğine ve uygulandığına pek değinilmez. Bu çalışmada, küçüklerin evlendirilmesi ve veli izinsiz nikâh konusu, tarihî bir vakıa olarak ele alınmış olup uygulamalar çerçevesinde İslam toplumunda yaygın olup olmadığına dair bazı tespitlere ulaşılmaya çalışılmıştır. Ancak uygulamaların ne yönde cereyan ettiğini gösteren kayıtların Osmanlı dönemine ait olması nedeniyle Osmanlı dönemine ait uygulamalara odaklanılmıştır. Çalışmada XVIII. yüzyıl Adana şer‘iyye sicilleri temel kaynak olarak kullanılmakla birlikte Osmanlı’nın farklı bölgelerine ait bazı evlilik defterlerindeki veriler de yeri geldikçe kullanılmıştır. Ayrıca Hukûk-ı Aile Kararnamesi’ndeki küçüklerin evlendirilmesi ile ilgili madde ve bu maddeye yönelik eleştiriler de tespit edilen bulgularla karşılaştırılmıştır. Böylece söz konusu araştırmada XVIII. yüzyılın başlarından kararnâmenin yazıldığı tarih olan 1917 yılına kadar Osmanlı toplumunda küçüklerin evlendirilmesiyle ilgili uygulamaların boyutunun ne olduğuna dair genel bir çerçeve çizilmesi hedeflenmiştir.

Bu çalışmada, velayetin boşanma sonrasında eşler tarafından birlikte kullanılması hususu incelenmiştir. Bu amaçla birinci bölümde, geçmişten bugüne velayet algısının dönüşümü ve hukuki düzenlenişi, tek başına velayet sisteminden doğan müşterek velayet sistemine geçiş sürecinden bahsedilmiştir. İkinci bölümde, müşterek velayete dayanak teşkil eden uluslararası düzenlemelere yer verilmiştir. Söz konusu uluslararası düzenlemelerin müşterek velayetle ilgili hükümleri, Türk hukuku bağlamında incelenerek ayrı ayrı değerlendirilmiştir.Üçüncü bölümde, mukayeseli hukuk bağlamında müşterek velayetin ne şekilde düzenlendiği incelenmiş ve son olarak Türk Hukuku'nda yer alan düzenleme ve olması gereken yasa değişikliği hakkında görüş ve öneriler beyan edilmiştir.Çalışmanın dördüncü bölümünde, yabancılık unsuru içeren müşterek velayet ihtilaflarına tatbik edilecek hukuk, Türk kanunlar ihtilafı kuralları ve Türkiye'nin taraf olduğu uluslararası sözleşmeler bakımından incelenmiştir.Çalışmanın beşinci bölümde, yabancı mahkemelerden alınan müşterek velayet kararlarının tanınması ve tenfizi, milletlerarası usul hukuku bakımından incelenmiş ve son olarak altıncı bölümde müşterek velayete ilişkin ihtilaflarda Türk mahkemelerinin milletlerarası yetkisinin ne şekilde belirleneceği hususuna yer verilmiştir.Anahtar Kelimeler: Müşterek Velayet, Velayet, Tek Başına Velayet In this paper, joint custody, which means exercise of custody of spouses after divorce has been examined. With this purpose, in the first chapter, history of custody from Roman to today was mentioned and how joint custody rise in the world was questioned. In the second part, international arrangements which form the basis of common law are given. The provisions related to joint custody of the said international regulations have been examined separately in the context of Turkish law. In the third chapter, it is examined how the joint custody is regulated in the context of comparative law and finally the opinions and suggestions about the regulation and the required legislative changes in Turkish Law have been declared. In the fourth part of the study will be applied to joint custody disputes containing foreign elements of law, Turkish law are examined in terms of international conventions to which Turkey is party rules and conflict. In the fifth part of the work, the recognition and enforcement of joint custody decisions taken from foreign courts were examined from the standpoint of international procedural law, and finally, in the sixth section, the issue of how international powers of Turkish courts should be determined in disputes related to common courtship. Key Words: Joint Custody, Custody, Sole Custody 145

Family Law and the Indissolubility of Parenthood - Published work (Book)

Namibia should be congratulated on their forward looking and energetic public sector because of the strategic vision of the leadership, as could be observed in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration (MHAI). MHAI is responsible for the technical and organizational infrastructureused to define, design, and administer the identity management system in Namibia.And from what could be observed there are systems and procedures in place to administer the registration of births and deaths and the linkage with the Namibian identification card. A complicating factor is the continued use of South West African (SWA) identity cards and the legacy register these represent. The fact that these have yet to be phased out represents both an administrative challenge which can delay identity verification processes, but also a security risk in that the issuance of the cards were based on standards that are different from today’s requirements for strong verification and authentication practices. The digital connectivity is a prerequisite for the interoperability of databases for the purpose of efficient deployment and use of electronic identification cards, and as such is a cornerstone of an identity management system. Namibia appears to be in a transitional phase with respect to putting in place the infrastructure needed for making their electronic governance vision a reality.Introducing an e-ID card has the potential to increase the effectiveness of both the public and the private sectors, and improve service delivery to citizens and residents alike. The proposal to Namibia is to consider a multi-stepapproach to identification cards by phasing out the SWA and the current national identity card, while phasing in an electronic identification card.A number of policy decisions are necessary to establish a legal, institutional and technical basis for a digitally integrated identity management system for Namibia. Namibia has already advanced with respect to defining thefoundations for linking services and systems, as well as thinking ahead with respect to the development and implementation of the same.

The judicial role in child custody and visitation disputes has traditionally been understood as one of authoritative decision-making. However this new empirical research suggests that many family court judges prioritize the pursuit of voluntary settlement in pre-trial conferences, using evaluative and facilitative mediation techniques. Drawing on qualitative interviews with judges and other family law professionals in Toronto and New York City, this article identifies points of consensus and controversy among settlement-seeking family judges. Despite the general support for settlement-seeking, there are substantial differences of opinion regarding coercion, due process, and the meaning of the best interests of the child standard.

This report aims at identifying the particular needs and constraints faced by the poorest women and men when accessing the judicial system. Similarly to the Judicial Functional Review,6 the scope of this report focuses primarily on the courts because they are the main vehicle for justice service delivery and the primary institutions of justice in Serbia. The scope includes all types of services and covers litigious and non-litigious aspects of civil, commercial, administrative, and criminal justice. The focus is on the actual implementation and day-to-day functioning of the sector institutions that deliver justice to people, rather than the law on the books . The scope includes other institutions in the sector to the extent that they enable or impede service delivery by the courts, including: the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), the High Judicial Council (HJC), the State Prosecutorial Council (SPC), the courts, the Public Prosecutor Offices (PPOs), the Judicial Academy, the Ombudsperson s Office, the police, prisons, and justice sector professional organizations (such as the Bar, notaries, bailiffs, and mediators). The focus of this report is on access to justice services, including relevant financial, informational, and geographic barriers to such access.

Este artículo presenta una panorámica crítica desde la doctrina académica y judicial encargada de interpretar la relación existente entre las instituciones de regulación de las relaciones filioparentales del Código Civil, a saber, la patria potestad y la autoridad parental. Evidencia el proceso evolutivo de interpretación de estas figuras, hasta concluir con un llamado hacia la necesaria interpretación tendiente a salvaguardar los derechos de los infantes y el derecho de todos a tener una familia. This article presents a critic panoramic from the academic and judicial doctrine in charge for interpreting the existing relationship between the regulatory institutions of the children-parents relationships from the Civil Code, as the custody and the parental authority. Evidencing the evolutive process of interpretation of these figures, and concluding with a call for the necessary interpretation tending to protect the children's rights and everyone's right to have a family. O presente artigo apresenta uma panorâmica crítica desde a doutrina acadêmica e judicial encarregada da interpretação da relação entre as instituições de regulamentação das relações filio-parentais do Código Civil, isto é, a tutela e a autoridade paternal. Adicionalmente, evidencia o processo evolutivo de interpretação destas figuras, concluindo com um apelo à interpretação necessária destinada à salvaguarda dos direitos das crianças e do direito de todos a ter uma família. Cet article montre un panorama critique de la doctrine et la jurisprudence qui interprètent la relation des institutions régulant les liens parents-enfants à partir du Code Civil, en mettant en évidence une évolution dans cette interprétation, dans le sens de privilégier la protection des droits des enfants et le droit de nous-tous à avoir une famille.

El artículo analiza la forma en que los Tribunales vienen utilizando el concepto del interés del menor en la aplicación de la Ley valenciana 5/2011 después de algunos años desde su publicación. This paper analyzes the way in which the courts use the concept of minor's best interest of in the application of Valencian Act 5/2011 after some years from entry into force.

The purpose of this qualitative sociological law study is to examine the relationship between the social services and civil court to apprehend if knowledge about the child's best interest is transfered from social workers to the legal system. This have been done by investigating civil court cases concerning custody transition from biological parents to foster parents according to 6 chapter 8 paragraph in the law of parenting, built upon the legal principle of the best interests of the child. Eight cases has been examined by using a method of qualitative text analysis and categorised into five primary categories and three concepts linked to sections of the law. The material has been analysed through a sociological law perspective, social constructionist theory and attachment theory. The study shows that a variety of factors interacts when it comes to determining what’s in the best interest of the child . Moreover, the civil court refers in all eight cases to social services assessments of the child's situation. This suggests that social services have an informal power position when it comes to decisions on custody transition in accordance with the child's best interests.