This book is a collection of essays by various contributors on the topic of multi-tiered marriages. The work does not seek to provide answers but rather poses difficult questions through discussion. The chapters are not interlinked and therefore the reader can focus on one area without having to read the book cover to cover. Though the contributors are mainly American academics, the focus is beyond that of American law and includes chapters on Islamic family law, regulation of Jewish marriages, and marriages in South Africa, India and Canada. The focus is not on identifying the differences in the legal systems between various countries but rather on discussing the institution of marriage for the same religious and ethnic groups within such differing legal systems.
Interestingly, the book is prefaced with a 2008 quote on Islamic family law from Dr Rowan Williams, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, and that is used as a stepping stone to discuss the wider notion of ‘plural jurisdiction’. In his introduction, Professor Joel Nichols begins with making a case on the importance of discourses about marriage. He argues that marriage is not merely a private law contract but an important familial and community event from which many benefits arise, including the state. This is considered in the light of the ever-changing nature of citizens and citizenship, whereby individuals are simultaneously members of multiple communities. The impact of this is that a statement of validity by a civil authority as to marriage is not sufficient for such individuals who will want to satisfy procedures within their own religious group. It is with this jurisdictional conflict in mind that Nichols has compiled a collection of essays considering how the wider community in different parts of the world reconcile and assimilate differences in competing principles. The term ‘multi-tiered marriage’ is emphasised in each of the contributors' work. There is a dual definition here and it would have assisted the reader if this had been expanded.
Chapter 1, the editor's own contribution, is the cornerstone of the book. It is a descriptive and historical overview of marriage in America and internationally, with specific consideration of India, Kenya, South Africa and Canada, to which the remaining chapters are linked, by either confirming or challenging the key description. The author's choice of India is an interesting one as it draws on the country's richly diverse religious community of Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Zoroastrians. The title of the chapter itself is a topical area that many legal systems throughout the world are grappling with: the boundaries of civil law and religion with respect to marriage. The real advantage about this chapter is that Nichols makes constant reference to the ‘lived reality’ for individuals and couples, a concept which is sometimes overlooked in academic works, considering complex interaction between civil law and religious laws.
In Chapter 2, Professor Brian Bix explores some of the ways in which marriage in America has already become plural and marriage regulation has been decentralised. His contribution considers same-sex marriage. Overall, he suggests that, as decentralisation allows parties to structure marriages according to their individual needs, it is a positive development. Professor Stephen Presser also considers same-sex marriage in his chapter and his contribution can be described as reflective, looking at the historical place of marriage and how it has evolved to its current state.
Professor Daniel Cere sheds light on the Canadian model, which is described in his chapter heading as a ‘Conjugal mosaic’. The author's discussion of faith-based arbitration is particularly interesting, with the apparent move towards it being brought to an abrupt halt on 11 September 2005, when the Ontario government announced that all forms of faith-based arbitration would be abolished. It is also noteworthy that Canadian discourse on multiculturalism has excluded any reference to religion. It appears, therefore, that weight is often given to ethnicity and culture but not to religion, and this has had an impact on Canadian law.
Professor Mohammed H Fadel's chapter sheds light on the nature of Islamic family law as a potential legal system, unlike other chapters such as that of Professor Menski which considers the interaction of Muslims, among others, and the state. Professor Fadel discusses the New York model when considering Muslim arbitration and the shortfalls which this produced. The New York model is also discussed by Professor Michael Broyde in his chapter entitled ‘New York's regulation of Jewish marriage: covenant, contract or statute?’ The final section of the chapter looks at the interplay between Jewish family law and state law; preceding sections consider the history of Talmudic family law, developments and how New York created the nation's first covenant marriage act. The author helpfully sets out four case studies in the co-operation between New York State courts and the rabbinical courts. Before concluding his contribution, Broyde touches on the differing church–state dynamic in Israel and highlights the problem of obeying two legal systems.
The variety of contributors has the advantage of presenting diverse opinions and, because the book is more a discussion and collection of ideas rather than propositions and assertions advocating a particular model, it works well. It is a rich dialogue about the jurisdictional boundaries of marriage in a liberal society. Despite covering a vast array of differing legal systems and their approaches to marriage, the subject content of each of the chapters is thought-provoking and relevant even to an academic from a different jurisdiction. What the reader is left with to draw on is the approach which each of these jurisdictions has taken in dealing with the interplay between marriage and the state.
