On 11 and 12 March, an international and interdisciplinary conference was held at Cardiff Law School to mark the tenth anniversary of the foundation of its Centre for Law and Religion.Footnote 1 Eleven professors, all of whom are leading scholars with international reputations in this field, addressed the changing understandings of the family in international law, state law and religious law. The papers given provided a clear illustration of the vast array of areas in which law, religion and the family interplay and affect each other through the application of the law, such as legislative developments concerning same-sex relationships, biomedicine and religious reservations, and developments that illustrate a changing understanding of what constitutes a family.
The first session was chaired by Professor Norman Doe, Director of the Centre for Law and Religion. Professor Gillian Douglas, Head of Cardiff Law School and an expert in family law, provided a wide-ranging paper presenting a model to elucidate the changing position of the family, with particular reference to changes to marriage law. Professor Mark Hill (Cardiff) considered recent UK legislation giving rights to same-sex couples and cohabitees and assessed whether this, together with other legislative enactments, has undermined the traditional understanding of marriage, and the degree to which the Church of England has been complicit in the changes.
The second session was chaired by Professor Mark Hill. Professor Grace Davie (Exeter), a renowned expert in the sociology of religion, explained the factors that needed to be taken into account in order to understand the sociological place of religion in modern Europe, including comment on how the position of religion in individuals' lives has changed over the last century. Two eminent American law and religion scholars then provided a historical perspective. Professor Richard Helmholz (Chicago) examined the role of individual conscience in matrimonial causes, while Professor John Witte (Emory, Atlanta) addressed notions of the family and celibacy in reformation and post-reformation protestant law. Proceedings for the first day concluded with a celebratory dinner at Aberdare Hall, Cardiff University.
On the second day, Professor Norman Doe chaired the third session, which focused on current issues and featured papers by Professor Peter Edge (Oxford Brookes), Professor Ian Leigh (Durham) and Professor Marco Ventura (Siena). Professor Edge addressed how religion was inherited through either familial or non-familial transmission, while Professor Leigh focused on matters of conscience and same-sex relationships, with discussion surrounding recent legal developments on homosexuality and human rights. Professor Ventura examined issues concerning medicine and biotechnology, including discussion of the varying viewpoints on whether science and religion merely conflict or are able to support each other, citing examples such as the churches' historical response to Galileo and the place of science in Nazi Germany to illustrate ‘God-free science’.
The fourth session, chaired by Professor Mark Hill, broadened the scope to the international sphere. It began with a presentation by Professor Javier Martínez-Torrón (Madrid), examining cases on the family and religion by the European Court of Human Rights. Professor Malcolm Evans (Bristol) continued this international law perspective by considering the approach taken by global institutions such as the UN. Professor Mervyn Murch (Cardiff) closed proceedings by reflecting on the family justice system as a whole, considering the effect of the proceedings' outcomes on the lives of those involved. An interdisciplinary approach was used, drawing from the law, psychology and sociology to consider the psychosocial impact of family law proceedings on individual balance, stability and equilibrium. The session underlined the need for an international and interdisciplinary approach.
At the end of each paper, time was given for open debate and consideration of the issues raised. It was fascinating to hear the many different contributions from scholars from across the globe and across disciplinary lines. The conference illustrated the importance of interactions between the family, law and religion and the study of these interactions. It was a fitting celebration of the Centre's first decade. Together with the launch of the Interfaith Legal Advisers Network and the Law and Religion Scholars Network, the conference underlined the contribution that Cardiff has made in the last ten years and the contribution that it will make in the future. It is intended to publish the papers from the conference and that publication is eagerly awaited.
