Families Across Borders | law, policy, news and views
New Rule of Succession for British Royal Family
The rules have changed for Britain’s royal family, with the unanimous approval by the Commonwealth countries of changes to the Bill of Rights 1688; the Coronation Oath Act 1688; the Act of Settlement 1701; and the Royal Marriages Act 1772. The new law places daughters and sons on an equal footing with respect to inheriting [...]
Trial in Argentina Over Baby Thefts
Former Argentine military dictators and several others have been on trial for the past nine months on charges that they kidnapped children born to pregnant political prisoners (who were later killed) during the “dirty war” that lasted from 1976 to 1983. Coverage from the BBC web page at the beginning of the trial is here; [...]
Polygamy Surfaces as an Issue in Libya
Repeal of a Quaddafi-era law regulating polygamy – by requiring a first wife’s consent before a man took additional wives –has surfaced along with a prohibition on charging interest as part of the new interim government’s plans for a return to a more strongly shariah-based legal system in Libya. See Richard Spencer, Libya’s liberation: interim [...]
Debating Surrogacy in India
Surrogate Mothers in India are the subject of this story posted (with video) on the PBS Religion and Ethics Newsweekly (Sept. 30, 2011). The same subject is tackled in Made in India (2010), a feature-length documentary film by Rebecca Haimowitz & Vaishali Sinha. New legislation has been pending in India that would regulate commercial surrogacy. See Nilanjana [...]
