PROJECTS 2020-2024

Family Law and Migration

RETHINKIN_ aims to broaden its substantive focus to a new field of research: issues of family law in relationship to migration. Incoming migration has led to the introduction of family institutes like kafala, child marriages, repudiation, polygamous marriages. Outgoing family ‘tourism’, too, confronts the Low Countries’ jurisdictions with new family institutes such as surrogacy or (other) ‘three-person babies’. Low Countries’ family laws are not adapted to this reality. Similar issues arise in case of outgoing migration whereby Low Countries’ family institutions such as same-sex marriage or same-sex parenthood are considered contrary to the country of destiny’s public policy. Both the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union struggle with the consequences of migration or tourism under free movement, private international law, and human rights standards. The group wants to take stock of legal thinking in this field and lay down a roadmap for future research.