The Principles and Canada's 'Beyond Conjugality' Report: The Move Toward Abolition of State Marriage Laws
Reconceiving the Family: Critique on the American Law Institute's Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution, Cambridge University Press, September 2012
21 Pages Posted: 2 Dec 2012
Date Written: September 1, 2012
Abstract
This Chapter evaluates two law reform initiatives in North America: the PRINCIPLES and the 2001 Canadian Law Commission's report entitled "Beyond Conjugality: Recognizing and Supporting Close Personal Relationships" ("Beyond Conjugality"). The PRINCIPLES move "away from the idea that there can be public standards guiding marriage and parenthood. Instead it says that the central purpose of family law should be to protect and promote family diversity." In particular, the PRINCIPLES introduce rules pertaining to pre-marital agreements and domestic partnerships that undermine the very essence of marriage and present it as one of many equally valid family forms.
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