Sexual orientation and family law

On 29th March 2000 the Scottish Parliament passed its fifth piece of legislation, the Adults with Incapacities (Scotland) Act 2000. One small provision tucked away in this important legislation amends the definition of "nearest relative" in the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984, in order to include within that phrase members of conjugal same-sex couples1. The relative obscurity of this provision must not hide its import, for this is the first time that legislation anywhere in the United Kingdom has expressly and intentionally given recognition, for civil law purposes, to the existence of same-sex family relationships

Classical Heisenberg antiferromagnet on a garnet lattice: a Monte Carlo simulation

We have studied a classical antiferromagnet on a garnet lattice by means of Monte Carlo simulations in an attempt to examine the role of geometrical frustration in Gadolinium Gallium Garnet, Gd3Ga5O12 (GGG). Low-temperature specific heat, magnetisation, susceptibility, the autocorrelation function A(t) and the neutron scattering function S(Q) have been calculated for several models including different types of magnetic interactions and with the presence of an external magnetic field applied along the principal symmetry axes. A model, which includes only nearest-neighbour exchange, J1, neither orders down to the lowest temperature nor does it show any tendency towards forming a short-range coplanar spin structure. This model, however, does demonstrate a magnetic field induced ordering below T ~ 0.01 J1. In order to reproduce the experimentally observed properties of GGG, the simulated model must include nearest neighbour exchange interactions and also dipolar forces. The presence of weak next-to-nearest exchange interactions is found to be insignificant. In zero field S(Q) exhibits diffuse magnetic scattering around positions in reciprocal space where antiferromagnetic Bragg peaks appear in an applied magnetic field.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, to appear in PRB (JAN 2001

Insulator–metal transitions in Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3 induced by a magnetic field

A magnetic field induced insulator to metal transition has been observed in both polycrystalline and single crystals samples of Pr0.7Ca0.3MnO3. Application of a magnetic field leads to a first-order phase transition from an insulating to a conducting state at low temperatures. The hysteresis associated with this transition allows the resistivity at 4 K to be varied by more than eight orders of magnitude depending on the field history of the sample

Recognition of foreign relationships under the Civil Partnership Act 2004

An examination of the circumstances in which foreign same-sex relationships will be recognised by applying the rules contained in the Civil Partnership Act 200

The changing concept of 'Family' and challenges for family law in Scotland

An examination of the developing notion of "family" within the Scottish legal system and of the future challenges that Scottish family law still has to face