Forum Selection and International Divorce
Blog In some quarters, forum-shopping is a dirty term, but in international family law it is often an essential process. In fact, it could even be considered gross negligence if a divorce lawyer were to select the appropriate jurisdiction based on the location of the lawyer’s office rather than on the best interests of the […]
Japan: Update Discriminatory Civil Code
Blog Japan Times 3/4/15 The Supreme Court has decided to have its Grand Bench hand down judgments on whether two controversial provisions in the Civil Code are constitutional. One provision is requirement that a married couple must adopt the original surname of either the husband or the wife, and the other is a ban on […]
Prenuptial agreements come to Israel
Blog By Anav Silverman JERUSALEM — With more than 200 in attendance from both the Legal and Rabbinic worlds, Tzohar and The Israel Bar Association launched the new Prenuptial Agreement to protect and assist the future of Jewish marriage. “It’s the first time that a large group of rabbis have come together and approved such […]
Kerry quizzed on child abductions to India
Blog U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry faced sharp questions on Capitol Hill this week on international child abductions to India, with lawmakers asking him whether he had brought up the subject with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to New Delhi. “Did you raise child abduction with an emphasis on specific cases, […]
South Korea court says adultery law is unconstitutional
Blog SEOUL – South Korea’s Constitutional Court on Thursday struck down a controversial law outlawing adultery and threatening violators with jail. It marked the fifth time in 25 years that the court had considered the constitutionality of a 1953 statute which made South Korea one of the few non-Muslim countries to regard marital infidelity a […]
Poland’s Violation of the Hague Abduction Convention
Blog A court in Ontario, Canada has declared that the interpretation and application of the Hague Abduction Convention by two Polish courts was dead wrong and “repugnant to the objectives of the Convention.” The order dated February 12th 2015 by Justice David Price of the Superior Court in Ontario in Nowacki v. Nowacki pulls no punches in […]
Expert Testimony In International Family Law Cases
Blog Expert testimony is frequently needed in international family law cases. International family lawyers are frequently called upon to act as expert witnesses. Such testimony is often secured in cases concerning international child abduction, particularly in cases in which one parent is seeking to prevent the other parent from having overseas visitation with the child […]
English Divorce Jurisdiction: The Basics
Blog In a case decided in 2014 Sir James Munby, the President of the Family Division of the High Court of Justice, provided the following extremely helpful and straightforward recitation of the basic legal principles that apply in England and Wales concerning divorce jurisdiction: 1. In the circumstances, and bearing in mind in particular that this […]
Child Abduction to Mexico
Blog By Jeremy D. Morley When children are abducted to Mexico by a parent who insists on retaining the child there, it is generally extremely difficult – and it is often impossible — to secure their return. The difficulty is enhanced substantially if the taking parent has asserted that the other parent is abusive or […]
Mirror orders to Help Prevent International Child Abduction
Blog “Mirror” orders can be a useful tool in the arsenal of lawyers who handle cases concerning international child travel and the prevention of potential international child abduction. Increasingly courts are being asked to enjoin parents from taking children overseas because of a parent’s fear that the children will not be returned. Courts must take […]