Islamic Law in Europe? Legal Pluralism and its Limits in European Family Laws

Cultural and religious identity and family law are inter-related in a number of ways and raise various complex issues. European legal systems have taken various approaches to meeting these challenges. This book examines this complexity and indicates areas in which conflicts may arise by analysing examples from legislation and court decisions in Germany, Switzerland, France, England and Spain. It includes questions of private international law, comments on the various degrees of consideration accorded to cultural identity within substantive family law, and remarks on models of legal pluralism and the dangers that go along with them. It concludes with an evaluation of approaches which are process-based rather than institution-based. The book will be of interest to legal professionals, family law students and scholars concerned with legal pluralism.

Preface; Introduction; Chapter 1 Cultural and Religious Diversity in the Context of Family Law; Chapter 2 Real and Virtual Legal Spaces; Chapter 3 Accommodation and its Scope; Chapter 4 Legal Pluralism; Chapter 5 Beyond Cultural and Religious Identities; Chapter 6 Seven Theses to Sum Up and Conclude; Chapter 101 Conclusion;

Professor Dr. Andrea Büchler is Chair of Private and Comparative Law in the Institute of Law, University of Zurich.