Analysing Orders Granted under the PWDVA, 2005

This chapter describes the trends and patterns of usage of the PWDVA and examines judicial approaches towards adjudication under the Act. This chapter is based on an empirical analysis of approximately 7,000 Magistrate Court orders from 14 states between 2012 and 2013. The objective behind the analysis is to assess the implementation of the PWDVA in a manner true to its objectives. The analysis includes pattern of usage, profile of users, nature of DV, reliefs sought and granted, reasons for refusal to grant relief such as protection orders, compensation, residence orders, custody of children, maintenance orders. Judicial attitudes and adjudicatory practices indicate that courts tend to locate their maintenance decisions on a male ‘moral duty’ to maintain the wife or mother, rather than on her entitlement to economic support for the services she performs and that the judicial process mostly lacks the multi-agency approach envisaged under the PWDVA.

Judicial Responses to Violations of the Emotional, Physical, Psychological and Sexual Integrity of the Child

This article examines the use of limitation laws in the context of civil law claims under English law and Scots law brought by adult claimants in relation to allegations of historical abuse in childhood. Using case law as a barometer of judicial attitudes towards such claimants and, by extension, towards the child victims of abuse themselves, differences in judicial approach between the two jurisdictions are critically assessed, entailing some weighing and evaluation of the argumentative coherence and persuasive force of the judicial decision-making in question. Key aspects of the discussion are framed in terms of recurrent issues that have arisen in relevant case law. The overall aim is to inform a wider debate about the success or failure of civil law mechanisms of redress in rendering justice to those whose right to emotional, physical, psychological or sexual integrity has been violated in childhood.

Legal Issues in Divorce for Transgender Individuals

This chapter examines the legal issues faced by transgender people in divorce and child custody cases. Despite trans people’s increased visibility, and gains in legal rights and protections, many people—including judges—continue to harbor misconceptions about transgender people. Attorneys representing transgender clients must anticipate the possibility of judicial bias and take proactive steps to address it. Attorneys must be prepared for the unique legal issues that arise when a spouse transitions during an existing marriage. Even under modern “no-fault” divorce regimes, attorneys must be prepared to rebut the claim that coming out as transgender constitutes misconduct or justifies awarding the other spouse more marital property or spousal support. In custody cases, attorneys must anticipate and rebut misinformation and negative judicial attitudes toward transgender parents. Finally, even after Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), attorneys representing transgender clients who married before Obergefell must be prepared to explain why that decision is retroactive.

A contextualised historical account of changing judicial attitudes to polygamous marriage in the English courts

Whilst much of the literature focuses on debating polygamy as a harmful practice, the purpose of this paper is to consider a different form of harm by exploring judicial responses to this relationship and the women who engage with it. Over the years, the courts have been faced with numerous questions on the recognition and regulation of polygamous marriages. Commencing with an overview of existing literature on polygamous marriage, I situate and explain the post-colonial feminist-inspired conceptual framework that underpins my judicial discourse analysis of English case-law in this area spanning from 1866 to the present day. A post-colonial feminist lens exposes the racist, orientalist, imperialist and sexist attitudes permeating judicial language in relation to polygamy and its participants. These patterns of discourse subordinate women in polygamous marriages, leaving them in a vulnerable position. With time, these discourses seemingly fade but, through a closer reading of recent cases, it becomes evident that they are still present, albeit in a subtler form as a matter of public policy, morality and ‘good’.