Religare Conference 2012

RELIGARE Expert Seminar: 

Unregistered Marriages and Alternative Dispute Resolution in European Legal Systems

Tuesday 4 September 2012

Organised by the GLOCUL: The Centre for Culture and Law, School of Law, Queen Mary, University of London on behalf of the RELIGARE Project on Religious Diversity and Secular Models in Europe - Innovative Approaches to Law and Policy.

This Expert Seminar took place under the umbrella of the RELIGARE project which is concerned with interdisciplinary co-operation in the area of religious pluralism in Europe and examining normative frameworks on the field of religion and secularism with a view to making policy recommendations for improvement. Part of RELIGARE’s remit is to examine the functioning of family law systems in the ten project countries in light of religious diversity. Therefore, this seminar focused comparatively on two important topical issues: firstly, the registration of marriages, and the increasing visibility of unregistered marriages; and secondly, the rise of diverse forms of alternative dispute resolution in family contexts.

Watch the video of the Religare 2012 morning session.

• Welcome and Introduction
  Prakash Shah, GLOCUL, Queen Mary
  Valsamis Mitsilegas, Head of the Department of Law, Queen Mary
• Panel on Unregistered Marriages
  Chair: Werner Menski, SOAS, University of London
• Unregistered Marriages in Denmark
  Anika Liversage, Danish National Centre for Social Welfare
• Unregistered Marriages as a Legal Challenge to Turkish Law
  Derya Bayir, GLOCUL, Queen Mary, University of London
• Unregistered Marriages in the English Courts
  Prakash Shah, GLOCUL, Queen Mary, University of London

Watch the video of the Religare 2012 afternoon session.

• Plenary Lecture: Transnational Families between Dutch and Islamic Family Law
  Betty de Hart, Centre for Migration Law/Institute for Sociology of Law, Radbound University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
  Respondent: Prakash Shah
• Panel on Alternative Dispute Resolution
  Chair: Wibo van Rossum, School of Law, Utrecht University
• Religious Divorce in a Secular State: A Case-Study Analysis
  Gillian Douglas, Cardiff Law School, Cardiff University
• Pathways to Family Dispute Resolutions within Migrant Families in Belgium
  Kim Lecoyer, Human Rights Centre, Department of Public Law, Ghent University
• Dispute Resolution among Kurds in London
  Latif Tas, GLOCUL, Queen Mary, University of London

Watch the video of the Religare 2012 evening lecture.

• Plenary Lecture: What is True and False about UK Shariah Councils
  John Bowen, Washington University in St. Louis, United States of America
  Respondent: Ralph Grillo, Department of Anthropology, University of Sussex