Jurisdictional Exceptionalisms Islamic Law, International Law and Parental Child Abduction Law in Context Series

Jurisdictional Exceptionalisms examines the legal issues associated with a parent's forced removal of their children to reside in another country following relationship dissolution or divorce. Through an analysis of Public and Private International Laws, and Islamic law - historical and as implemented in contemporary Muslim Family Law States - the authors uncover distinct legal lexicons that centre children's interests in premodern Islamic legal doctrines, modern State practice, and multilateral conventions on children. While legal advocates and policy makers pursue global solutions to parental child abduction, this volume identifies fundamental obstacles, including the absence of shared understandings of jurisdiction. By examining the relevant law and practice, the study exposes the polarised politics embedded in the technical legal rules on jurisdiction. Presenting a new, innovative method in comparative legal history, the book examines the beliefs, values, histories, doctrines, institutions and practices of legal systems presumed to be in conflict with one another.

Dedication; Preface and Acknowledgements; List of Abbreviations; 1. Introduction: Part I. 2. The Hague System on International Child Abduction; 3. Muslim Majority States, Human Rights Treaty Obligations and The Hague Abduction Convention; Part II. 4. Islamic Law and Child Custody; 5. Jurisdictional Exceptionalism and Islamic Law; 6. Private International Law, Islamic Family Law States, and Strategic Jurisdiction; 7. Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Anver M. Emon is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Islamic Law and History at the University of Toronto, where he directs the Institute of Islamic Studies. A Guggenheim Fellow and member of the College of the Royal Society of Canada, he has published widely in Islamic law and history.
Urfan Khaliq is Professor of International and European Laws and Head of School in the School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University. His publications include Ethical Dimensions of the Foreign Policy of the European Union: A Legal Appraisal (Cambridge, 2008) and International Human Rights Law Documents (Cambridge, 2018).