Comparative Family Law and Family Law Teaching

Both comparative law and family law only relatively recently established themselves as academic and teaching subjects. The combination of the two, comparative family law, unsurprisingly has not made it unto most university curricula (yet). However, in a globalising world, fundamentally similar issues in family law often will arise in societies and jurisdictions at similar times, prompted by social change and scientific/medical advances. By mapping the legal developments in other jurisdictions in their societal context and analysing the policies behind these developments as well as their efficacy, comparative family law can contribute greatly to the understanding of one’s own law and the ability to critically engage with it, to dealing with unfamiliar family constructs in cross-border situations, and to law reform discussions more broadly. This chapter therefore argues that comparative family law ought to be a part of comprehensive university education in family law and shows different ways in which this can be achieved.