The 4th Conference of the Commission on European Family Law 2010

The Future of Family Property in Europe

The fourth conference of the Commission on European Family Law: The Future of Family Property in Europe was held at the University of Cambridge in April 2010, following previous conferences in Utrecht (2002 and 2004) and Oslo (2007).

The conference aimed to enhance the exchange of ideas and arguments about comparative and international family law in Europe, and attracted a wide audience of academics and practitioners from all over Europe and beyond.

The theme of the conference was chosen in light of the CEFL’s current work on Principles of European Family Law regarding Property Relations between Spouses. This is the CEFL’s third working field, following the successful publication of its Principles regarding Divorce and Maintenance between Former Spouses (2004) and Parental Responsibilities (2007). The complex and technical nature of the field of comparative matrimonial property law mean that deliberations on the current project will continue into 2011, but initial findings of the project were presented at the conference.

The conference plenary sessions, which opened with a keynote lecture from the Rt Hon Lord Justice Thorpe, also considered the autonomy of spouses and cohabitants to make agreements regulating their property relationships, and the increasing unification of private international law in family matters pursued by both the Hague Conference on Private International Law and the European Commission. As at previous conferences, early career researchers presented their research in three parallel working groups. This year’s themes were child maintenance, the protection of the elderly, and freedom of testation and the protection of family members.

For full details of the papers presented, refer to the programme.

The conference proceedings were published in April 2011 by Intersentia.

Generously supported by: