An ideal balance?

Considers the intersection between employment policy and family law, and the changes in work and family regarding traditional gender roles. Examines UK and EU policy initiatives aimed at achieving a better work/life balance for employees with children. Argues that many of the policy aspirations are predicated on an equal opportunities employment model that may not exist in practice and also fail to reflect the realities of family life

Informal Relationships National Report: Scotland

No abstract available

The breadwinner, the homemaker and the worker/carer: new stereotypes for old?

No abstract available

Principles in Practice: financial provision on divorce in Scotland

Scots law of financial provision on divorce is now 30 years old. The Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 is one of the best known and most respected elements of the Scottish family law system and yet, for something so significant and familiar, it has attracted comparatively little attention from researchers and commentators. The 1985 Act was designed to address the mischiefs of the previous legal system and to achieve explicit objectives. Particular problems, which had been identified in respect of the pre-1985 law, included a lack of clear guidance, too much judicial discretion, restrictions on the orders which courts could make and an over-reliance on continuing periodical allowance. The Scottish Law Commission considered that “[w]hat financial provision on divorce should seek to achieve is fundamental to the type of legal provision governing it” and, although they concluded that no single objective was appropriate, they did identify a range of objectives which included the desirability of achieving a clean break between the parties. The resulting detailed statutory framework of the 1985 Act - “a highly sophisticated system” (Sutherland) - was designed to achieve these objectives by means of a carefully constructed jigsaw of orders, principles and guidance. The legislation was carefully planned and well drafted but how well has it worked in practice? One of the aims of the SLC, in designing the 1985 Act, was to increase the willingness of couples to reach agreement and to reduce the need for judicial resolution. To that extent, the Act has worked in that there are relatively few reported cases but while there are undoubtedly many benefits in settlement, the lack of published judgments makes it more difficult to see how the legislation is used. While the 1985 Act has been generally well-received over the past three decades, it has also attracted some criticism and raised some questions. Compared with the English law on ancillary relief, its principled framework appears to leave little space for judicial discretion. While its preference for a clean break settlement fits well with modern, simple no-fault divorce, Scots law has been criticised for being unduly harsh on the ‘homemaker spouse’. While certainty and clarity about the law has undoubtedly been achieved, has it been at the expense of fairness? In a recent study, funded by the Nuffield Foundation – Mair, Mordaunt and Wasoff, Built to Last http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/117617/1/117617.pdf - we analysed a sample of 200 reported cases on financial provision, spanning the 30 years during which the 1985 Act has been in force, together with in-depth interviews with solicitors, advocates and judges. Using findings from that research, this paper will explore how the statutory principles of financial provision work in practice

Divorce law in Scotland: not entirely without fault: LV v IV [2018] CSOH 80; X v Y [2018] SC DUM 54; Douglas v Douglas [2019] SC PER 4

No abstract available

The breadwinner, the homemaker and the worker/carer: new stereotypes for old?

No abstract available

The Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985: a principled system in context

The Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 introduced a detailed and tightly structured framework of statutory principles and guidance to be applied by the Scottish courts in making orders for financial provision on divorce. Within Scotland, the legislation is highly regarded and viewed as achieving a good balance between certainty and flexibility. Beyond this domestic context, there is sometimes a different perception of the Act as being overly rigid and lacking in discretion. Drawing on findings from a recent empirical study of 30 years of the 1985 Act in practice, this article will explore the gap between internal and external perceptions, stressing in conclusion the importance of context

Built to last: The Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985 - 30 Years of Financial Provision On Divorce

No abstract available