Tag: civil unions
Has English Law Lost Its Concept of Marriage?
by admin on Mar.17, 2010, under divorce, family law, morals
Baroness Deech, a leading UK family lawyer who is also the chairman of the Bar Standards Board is expected to speak this week in a lunchtime lecture about the concept of marriage within English law and whether it is clear, relevant and up-to-date.
Baroness Deech is expected to argue that the English law’s concept of marriage, “the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others” is heavily based on traditional Christian values and that recent changes to family law and conventional family life have made this description less relevant than ever.
The basis of Lady Deech’s argument is that as recently as fifty years ago, homosexuality itself was still illegal whereas nowadays same sex couples have the right to hold civil unions which are closely comprable to marriage, adopt children, be named on the birth certificates of children born through artificial insemination and may soon be allowed to hold civil unions in religious buildings.
The accuracy and relevancy of English law’s concept of marriage has not only be called into question by society’s increasing acceptance of homosexuality, but also by other shifting social attitudes. Whilst same sex civil unions negated the ‘between one man and one woman’ part, relaxing attitudes to adultery have called into question the ‘one‘ part.
Similarly, the fact that few people bat an eyelid about divorce and that it is so easy to obtain these days has rather put a question mark over the ‘lifelong‘ part too. So Baroness Deech’s view that changing family law has resulted in the law’s concept of marriage becoming inaccurate has a pretty sound basis.
Marriage is more different and less practised today than ever before. Attitudes and lifestyles have changed. As Baroness Deech puts it, ” religion is a waning force, women have financial independence, there is state support for lone parents, children are no longer classified as illegitimate, divorce is easy and there is no recrimination over sex and birth outside of wedlock,” so perhaps the legal definition of marriage should come up for review.
You can read the full story here. We’d love to know your views.
