International Family Law
Introduction

Updated: September 02, 2019 (Bibliography and Lib. choice).
International Family Law describes all family law matters with an international element. People are increasingly mobile, living outside their country of origin and experiencing international relationships more frequently. In such cross border situations the rules of international family law determine jurisdiction and the aplicable family law. The closest link to determine which national family law rules are applicable to specific family matters is the habitual residence or domicile of the parties concerned. Family matters include marriage, divorce, maintenance obligations, spouses, inter-country adoption, lineage, inheritance etc.
This Research Guide provides a starting point for research on the International Family Law. It contains open access publications and legal materials available in the Peace Palace Library, both in print and electronic format. Books, articles, bibliographies, periodicals, serial publications and documents of interest are presented in the Selective Bibliography section including links to the PPL Catalogue when available. Special attention is given to our subscriptions on databases, e-journals, e-books and other electronic resources. Finally, this Research Guide features links to relevant websites and other online resources of particular interest.
Bibliography
Reference works
- Andrea, M., Internationales Familienrecht, Baden-Baden, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 2014.
- Estin, A.L., International Family Law Desk Book, Chicago, IL, American Bar Association, 2012.
- Groot de, G.R. and O. Vonk, International Standards on Nationality law, Texts, Cases and Materials, Wolf Legal Publishers, 2016.
- Hodson, D., A Practical Guide to International Family Law, 2008
- Pagano, E., Diritto Internazionale Privato: Parte Generale e Diritto di Famiglia, Napoli, Ed. Scientifica, 2012.
- Scherpe, J.M. (ed.), European Family Law, Cheltenham, UK, 2016.
- Stark, B., and J. Heaton (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of International Family Law, Abingdon, Oxon (UK), Routledge 2019. [Intro]
Books
- Arceri, A., I Regimi Patrimoniali della Famiglia in Prospettiva Europea, Milano: Giuffrè Editore, 2016.
- Baarsma, N.A., The Europeanisation of International Family Law: From Dutch to European Law: An Analysis on the Basis of the Choice of Law on Divorce and on the Termination of Registered Partnerships, [S.l., s.n.], 2010.
- Blair, M. (ed.), Family Law in the World Community: Cases, Materials, and Problems in Comparative and International Family Law, Durham, NC, Carolina Academic Press, 2015.
- Boele-Woelki, K., C. Mol and E. van Gelder, European family Law in Action: Volume V: Informal Relations, Antwerpen etc., Intersentia, 2015.
- Boele-Woelki, K., Dethloff, N. and Gephart, W. (ed.), Family Law and Culture in Europe: Developments, Challenges and Opportunities, Cambridge; Antwerp; Portland: Intersentia, 2014.
- Boele-Woelki, K., and D. Martiny, Plurality and Diversity of Family Relations in Europe, Mortsel, Intersentia, 2019.
- Büchler, A., Keller, H., Family forms and parenthood, theory and practice of Article 8 ECHR in Europe, Cambridge: Intersentia, 2016.
- Calvo Caravaca. A.L. (ed.), The EU Succession Regulation: a Commentary, United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press 2016.
- Douglas, G. (et al.) (eds.), International and National Perspectives on Child and Family Law: Essays in Honour of Nigel Lowe, Cambridge, Intersentia, 2018. [e-book] Nov.
- Garb, L. and J. Woods (eds.), International succession, Oxford, United Kingdom, Oxford University Press, 2015.
- Laquer Estin, A. (ed.), International Family Law, Edward Elgar Publishing, (2 vols.) 2016.
- Morley, J.D., The Hague Abduction Convention : Practical Issues and Procedures for Family Lawyers, Chicago, American Bar Association, 2012.
- Nikolina, N.V., Divided Parents: Shared Children, Legal Aspects of (residential) Co-Parenting in England, the Netherlands and Belgium, Cambridge, Intersentia, 2015.
- Stewart, J., Family Law: Jurisdictional Comparisons, London, Thomson Reuters, 2013.
- Vienenkötter, R., Der Begriff des gewöhnlichen Aufenthalts im Internationalen Familien- und Erbrecht der EU, Jenaer Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, 2017.
- Yassari, N., L.M. Möller, I. Gallala-Arndt (eds.), Parental Care and the Best Interests of the Child in Muslim Countries, The Hague, Asser Press, 2017.
- Živković, M. (ed.), Personal Name in Internal Law and Private International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Niš, 2016.
Articles
- Bumbaca, V., “Habitual residence in International family law”, Suzhou Conference, Renmin University: Suzhou, May 19, 2018. [e-article]
- Corneloup, S. (et al.), "Private International Law in a Context of Increasing International Mobility: Challenges and Potential", Study for the JURI committee, Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs, June 2017. [e-article]
- Dowd, A.N., “International Parental Kidnapping: Combatting Abduction through Prevention”, Creighton International and Comparative Law Journal, 8 (2017), No. 2, pp. 136-164. [e-article]
- Feraci, O., "Party Autonomy and Conflict of Jurisdictions in the EU Private and International Law on Family and Succession Matters", Yearbook of Private International Law, 16 (2014-2015), pp. 105-128.
- Fernando, M., and N. Ross, “Stifled Voices: Hearing Children’s Objections in Hague Child Abduction Convention Cases in Australia”, International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 32 (2018), No. 1, pp. 93–108. [e-article]
- Gössl, S.L., and J. Verhellen, "Marriages and Other Unions in Private International Law Separate but Equal?", International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 31 (2017), No. 2, pp.174-190.
- Harding, M., "The Harmonisation of Private International Law in Europe: Taking the New Character Out of Family Law", Journal of Private International Law, 7 (2011), No. 1, pp. 203-229.
- Kinsch, P., “Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights on the Application of (Some of) the EU Family Regulations” (June 12, 2018), Forthcoming in I. Viarengo and F.C. Villata (eds.), Planning the Future of Cross-Border Families: A Path Through Coordination, London, Hart Publishing, 2018; University of Luxembourg Law Working Paper No. 2018-006. [e-article]
- Konno, Y., "A Haven for International Child Abduction: Will the Hague Convention Shape Japanese Family Law?", California Western international law journal, 46 (2015), No. 1, pp. 39-68.
- Lagarde. P., "Règlements 2016/1103 et 1104 du 24 juin 2016 sur les Régimes Matrimoniaux et sur le Régime Patrimonial des Partenariats Enregistrés, Rivista di diritto internazionale privato e processuale", 52 (2016), No. 3, pp. 676-686.
- Michaels, R., “Private International Law as an Ethic of Responsivity”, in V. Ruiz Abou-Nigm and M.B. Noodt Taquela (eds.), Diversity and Integration in Private International Law, Edinburgh University Press, Forthcoming 2019; Duke Law School Public Law & Legal Theory Series No. 2018=57. [e-article]
- Mol, C., and T. Kruger, “International Child Abduction and the Best Interests of the Child: An Analysis of Judicial Reasoning in Two Jurisdictions”, Journal of Private International Law, 14 (2018), No. 3. [e-article]
- Mostowik, P., "Legislative Activities of European Union Versus Fundamental Principles of Paternity and Maternity in Member States", International Journal of the Jurisprudence of the Family, 8 (2017), pp. 79-94. [e-article]
- Robertson, L., and K. Broadhurst, “Introducing Social Science Evidence in Family Court Decision-Making and Adjudication: Evidence from England and Wales”, International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 33 (2019), No. 2, pp. 181–203. [e-article]
- Schuz, R., “Choice of Law in Relation to Matrimonial Property in the 21st Century”, Journal of Private International Law, 15 (2019), No. 1, pp. 1-49. [e-article] .
- Walker, L., “Party Autonomy, Inconsistency and the Specific Characteristics of Family Law in the EU”, Journal of Private International Law, 14 (2018), No. 2, pp. 225-261. [e-article]
- Wautelet, P.R., “What’s Wrong with Article 22? The Unsolved Mysteries of Choice of Law for Matrimonial Property”, May 1, 2018. [PDF]
Documents
- Blair, D.M. and M.H. Weiner, International Family Law: Conventions, Statutes, and Regulatory Materials, Durham, NC, Carolina Academic Press, 2010.
- Family Law Statutes, International Conventions and Uniform Laws, New York, NY, Foundation Press, 2007.
Periodicals, serial publications
- Bergmann, A., Ferid. M., (ed.), Internationales Ehe- und Kindschaftsrecht mit Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht, looseleaf edition.
- Child and family law quarterly
- European Family Law Series (Intersentia)
- International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family
- International Journal of the Jurisprudence of the Family
Bibliographies
New titles
Librarian's choice
Boele-Woelki, K., and D. Martiny, Plurality and Diversity of Family Relations in Europe, Mortsel, Intersentia, 2019.
View this title in our discovery serviceThis volume contains the contributions delivered at CEFL’s sixth international conference, which focused on comparative and international family law in Europe in their respective cultural contexts. Inter alia in this book CEFL experts and other legal scholars examine subjects such as family law, sociology, migration and women's fundamental rights, as well as the developing concept of parentage and the role of children in families. The conference, and in turn the book, aims to enhance the exchange of ideas and arguments on comparative and international family law in Europe.
Stark, B., and J. Heaton (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of International Family Law, Abingdon, Oxon (UK), Routledge 2019.
View this title in our discovery serviceGlobalisation, and the vast migrations of capital and labour that have accompanied it in recent decades, has transformed family law in once unimaginable ways. Families have been torn apart and new families have been created. Borders have become more porous, allowing adoptees and mail order brides to join new families and women fleeing domestic violence to escape from old ones. People of different nationalities marry, have children, and divorce, not necessarily in that order. They file suits in their respective home states or third states, demanding support, custody, and property. Otherwise law-abiding parents risk jail in desperate efforts to abduct their own children from foreign ex-spouses. The aim of this Handbook is to provide scholars, postgraduate students, judges, and practioners with a broad but authoritative review of current research in the area of International Family Law. The contributors reflect on a range of jurisdictions and legal traditions and their approaches vary. Each chapter has a distinct subject matter and was written by an author who was invited because of his or her expertise on that subject.
Douglas, G. (et al.) (eds.), International and National Perspectives on Child and Family Law: Essays in Honour of Nigel Lowe, Cambridge, Intersentia, 2018. [e-book]
View this title in our discovery serviceNigel Lowe is a leading expert in international family law, with a world-wide reputation for his work in child law, international family relocation and child abduction. His career, spanning more than 40 years, has produced a huge body of literature and is internationally influential and of particular importance within Europe. A collaborative effort by members of the judiciary, practitioners and fellow academics from both the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions, this book is a recognition of the impact of his work. It covers key issues in international child and family law including those in which Professor Lowe's work has been particularly influential, namely adoption, wardship, parental responsibility, children's rights, international family relocation and the 1980 Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. International and transnational family law has been a developing field of study and a growing area of legal practice over recent years. At a time of great international change and with the complications and implications of Brexit, this book covers many of the key issues in family law today and provides the reader with an exploration of possible future developments in the field. Written in honour of the internationally renowned Professor Nigel Lowe, this book explores current issues in international family and child law and considers how the field might develop in the future.
Davies, M. (ed.), Babies for Sale,Transnational Surrogacy, Human Rights and the Politics of Reproduction, Zed Books, London, 2017.
View this title in our discovery serviceTransnational surrogacy – the creation of babies across borders – has become big business. Globalization, reproductive technologies, new family formations and rising infertility are combining to produce a 'quiet revolution' in social and medical ethics and the nature of parenthood. Whereas much of the current scholarship has focused on the US and India, this book offers a far wider perspective.
Featuring contributions from over thirty activists and scholars from a range of countries and disciplines, this collection offers an international study of transnational surrogacy. Its innovative bottom-up approach, rooted in feminist perspectives, gives due prominence to the voices of those most affected by the global surrogacy chain, namely the surrogate mothers, donors, prospective parents and the children themselves. Through case studies ranging from Israel to Mexico, the book outlines the forces that are driving the growth of transnational surrogacy, as well as its implications for feminism, human rights, motherhood and masculinity.
Vienenkötter, R., Der Begriff des gewöhnlichen Aufenthalts im Internationalen Familien- und Erbrecht der EU, Jenaer Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, 2017.
View this title in our discovery serviceDer gewöhnliche Aufenthalt ist heute das bevorzugte Anknüpfungskriterium im Internationalen Familien- und Erbrecht der EU. Ursprünglich war mit der Verwendung des gewöhnlichen Aufenthaltsbegriffs die Vorstellung verbunden, dass dieser sich als rein tatsächlicher Umstand leicht feststellen lasse und der Begriff keine Definition erfordere. Die vielfache Verwendung des Anknüpfungskriteriums in unterschiedlichen Regelungsbereichen hat jedoch in der Praxis zu Problemen geführt. Noch nicht geklärt ist, wie das Anknüpfungskriterium auszulegen ist und ob der Begriff in allen Rechtsakten gleich zu verstehen ist oder vielmehr ein differenzierendes Begriffsverständnis zugrunde zu legen ist. Mit dieser Fragestellung beschäftigt sich die Arbeit. Hierzu wird der Begriff in den Verordnungen des europäischen Internationalen Familien- und Erbrechts analysiert. Schließlich werden die allgemeinen Begriffsgrundsätze und Differenzierungskriterien herausgearbeitet sowie der Versuch einer Systematisierung dieser Kriterien unternommen.
Database
- European Union: Family Law
- EUPILLAR Database: The Database contains summaries in English of over 2300 judgments that were rendered between 1 March 2002 and 31 December 2015 concerning the Brussels I (Brussels I Recast), Brussels IIa, Maintenance, Rome I and Rome II Regulations and the Hague Maintenance Protocol in the Court of Justice of the European Union and in Belgium, Germany, England and Wales, Italy, Poland, Scotland and Spain.
Blogs
The Hague Abduction Convention: Nice in Theory, Difficult in Implementation
The Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction seeks to protect children from the harmful effects of abduction and retention across international boundaries by providing a procedure to bring about their prompt return. To implement these objectives, the Convention creates a system of close co-operation among the judicial and administrative authorities of the Contracting States and requests Contracting States to use the most expeditious procedures available under their own laws for Convention proceedings. A recent decision of the Japanese Supreme Court shows the conflict between the desire to protect factual situations altered by the wrongful removal or retention of a child, and that of guaranteeing respect for the legal relationships which may underlie such situations.
Read moreKey Connecting Factors in International Child Abduction Cases
One of the main problems in international child abduction cases is to determine which country’s courts should decide a case and which legal system should apply. The subject of this blog is to give some insights in the main connecting factors in international child abduction cases, with an emphasis on the “habitual residence” of very young children as connecting factor. The main question is whether the parental intentions or the physical presence of a child in a state is primordial to establish habitual residence.
Read moreThe Harmonization of European Family Law: Work in Progress
With the aim of offering citizens in the European Union legal certainty in cross border family law situations the EU has increasingly come to define key aspects of jurisdiction, applicable law and recognition and enforcement of judgments on divorce, maintenance, and disputes over children, including international child abduction, and provided new frameworks for cross-national cooperation. This blog gives an overview of the main EU regulations in the field of international family law.
Read moreTowards a Toolbox for Nationality Legislation
From 13 to 14 October Prof. Dr. Gerard–René de Groot will host his farewell seminar on the ”Future of nationality law” at Maastricht University. In this seminar specialists in the field of nationality law will discuss how academia and civil society can best collaborate in the fight to eradicate statelessness. With whole populations adrift, nationality and citizenship today are critically important to gain admittance in a state. Nationality is in fact commonly regarded as an inalienable right of every human being. Thus, the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) states that “everyone has the right to a nationality” and that “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality.”
Read moreThe Special Commission on the implementation of the 2007 Child Support Convention and of the Protocol on Applicable Law
From 10 to 17 November a Special Commission of the Conference on Private International Law (hereafter HCCH) on the implementation of the 2007 Child Support Convention and of the Protocol on Applicable Law will meet at the Peace Palace in The Hague. The Special Commission of the HCCH will discuss the implementation of the 2007 Child Support Convention and of the Protocol on Applicable Law. The new Convention aims to resolve the problems of unpaid or uncollectible child support and the problems of costly, complicated, slow and under-utilized international procedures. It will provide for a simplified procedure to recover child support internationally.
Read moreCultural Diversity
On Monday the 17th of August 2009 the Centre for Studies and Research in International Law and International Relations of the Hague Academy of International Law started. The Centre takes place annually at the Academy and Library building of the Peace Palace. The purpose of the Centre is to bring together advanced young scholars of […]
Read moreLesbians v. Lesbians
Who is a true Lesbian?
Read more
Inhabitants of the Greek Isle of Lesbos started a trial in Athens to ban the Greek Gay and Lesbian Union (OLKE) from using the word “Lesbian”. According to the Lesbos residents the term “lesbian” causes psychological distress to the islanders, as it is a world lesbian centre in a rather conservative environment. Same-sex marriage is still a difficult issue. The decision can have worldwide effects, if the name may be used only for the people of Lesbos, with a copyright not to use it publicly in print. What about the other “Lesbians”?
Perhaps Sappho, the poetess, who lived around 630 BC on the island, and whose poems caused all these problems, was not a lesbian after all?
Links
- International Family Law: a Selective Resource Guide, by Marylin J. Raisch
- International Family Law (The Law Office of Jeremy D. Morley, New York)
- European Union: Family Law
- European Union: Marital Property Law
- European Union: Succession Law
- Decisions applying the European Union Regulations on cross-border litigation in family matters
See also
More Research guides on Private International Law
- Intellectual Property
- International Commercial Law
- International Contracts
- Private International Law