This thematic volume in the series Studies in Private International Law – Asia outlines the general choice of law and recognition rules relating to family matters of 15 Asian jurisdictions: Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India. The book examines pressing questions and proposes ways in which their systems may be reformed. A concluding chapter considers the extent to which Asian cross-border family law systems can and should be harmonised. The book provides a comprehensive analysis of cross-border family law challenges, including child surrogacy, child abduction, the recognition of same-sex unions, the recovery of maintenance, and the regulation of intercountry adoption. These are among the matters now testing Asian institutions of private international law and acting as forces for their modernisation. With contributions by leading Asian private international law experts, the book proposes necessary reforms for each of the jurisdictions analysed as well as for Asia as a whole.

Family law in India has a complex legal structure where different religious communities are guided by their own personal laws, each of which historically evolved under various social, religious, political, and legal influences. In two comprehensive and lucid volumes, Flavia Agnes, a leading activist and advocate in the area, examines family law in the light of social realities, contemporary rights discourse, and the idea of justice. What is unique in these volumes is that the ground level litigation practices around women's rights are interwoven with the critical analyses of the statutory provisions. Relying extensively upon case law, Volume 2 examines: the litigation around the validity of marriage and procedures for dissolving it, the contemporary debates around issues such as child marriages, NRI marriages, and registration of marriages the framework of law on the issues of maintenance, matrimonial residence, and custody and guardianship of children, and whether considering the procedural aspects of matrimonial law, and the increased powers of the family courts, gender justice concerns are being adequately addressed. The volume also emphasizes that it is necessary and possible for the law to fairly reflect individual and social contingencies at the ground level.

This book examines the implications of Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), its resulting standard of protection for persons with disabilities and the way it is understood and implemented in its diverse signatory states. Its overarching theme is to assess the impact of CRPD Article 12 on the private law concept of legal capacity and its limitations, the significance of which carries over into the realm of penal law regulations. Its impact is analysed primarily from the legal point of view, but with due regard for its psychological and psychiatric ramifications. Recognising the importance of these disciplines is important when implementing CRPD Article 12 into domestic law, as they contribute to the determinants in creating a qualificatory legal framework for all, persons with disabilities in particular, to exercise their rights to legal capacity without let or hindrance. As active legal capacity is a notion rooted in and coming from private law, this forms the main research perspective. The first section discusses the foundational concepts constituting the CRPD Article 12 standard from domestic private law and international law perspectives. The work shows that the concepts adopted in private law interact with the protection of persons with disabilities as victims provided for in criminal law. In addition, where relevant, authors also look at public law institutions that are connected with the private law solutions. The volume will be an essential reference for academics, researchers and policy-makers working in the areas of private law, criminal law, mental health law, human rights, discrimination law as well as psychology and psychiatry.

The chapters in this book are an assembly of commentaries by a distinguished team of specialists on the social impact of the Singapore Women's Charter on women and men. The Women's Charter is the main legislation protecting women's rights in the context of the family in Singapore. Highlights of this book include the reasons for the significance of legislation to protect women's rights in marriage; how the legislation came about; case studies from Southeast Asia; how the Singapore Women's Charter evolved and became established; how the Charter goes beyond protecting women's rights by reinforcing men's and women's obligations and duties in a marital partnership; how the Charter has come to be perceived by men and women especially in its enforcement in the context of divorce; and the social repercussions of the Charter on the family in its application. There has been ongoing discussion on the implications of the Charter on the lives of Singaporean women and men for some years since its implementation. The purpose of this book is to enrich our understanding of this legislation further - its objectives, efficacy and shortfalls.

Research on the family has expanded considerably across Asia but studies tend to be fragmented, focusing on narrow issues within limited areas (cities, towns, small communities) and may not be accessible to international readers. These limitations make it difficult for researchers, students, policy makers, and practitioners to obtain the information they need. The Routledge Handbook of Families in Asia fills that gap by providing a current and comprehensive analysis of Asian families by a wide range of experts in a single publication. The thirty-two chapters of this comparative and multi-disciplinary volume are organized into nine major themes: conceptual approaches, methodological issues, family life in the context of culture, family relationships across the family life cycle, issues of work and income, stress and conflict, family diversity, family policy and laws, and environmental setting of homes. Each chapter examines family life across Asian countries, studying cultural similarities and differences and exploring how families are changing and what trends are likely to develop in the future. To provide a fruitful learning experience for the reader, each chapter offers examples, relevant data, and a comprehensive list of references. Offering a complete interdisciplinary overview of families in Asia, the Handbook will be of interest to students, academics, policy makers and practitioners across the disciplines of Asian Studies, Sociology, Demography, Social Work, Law, Social Policy, Anthropology, Geography, Public Health and Architecture.