Extract

The examination of family law in developed countries in the last edition of this Encyclopedia focused on the problematic reputation and contentious aspects of this field of comparative legal studies. The objectives here are first, to demonstrate how the divisions and uncertainty in the subject can be resolved and second, to establish that comparative analysis in this field serves valuable functions. A third objective is speculative: it is to raise the possibility that laws applied to family relationships, which many comparatists are inclined to avoid, may in fact hold lessons for general comparative legal studies.