Intersentia The Future of Registered Partnerships (European Family Law): Family Recognition Beyond Marriage?: 44

In many jurisdictions registered partnerships were introduced either as a functional equivalent to marriage for same-sex couples or as an alternative to marriage open to all couples. As marriage is opened up to same-sex couples in an increasing number of jurisdictions, this raises the question of what the future of registered partnerships should be. Is there a function or indeed a need for another form of formalised adult relationship besides marriage?In this book, leading family law experts from 15 European and non-European countries present and explain the history and function of registered partnerships in their own family law systems as well as the role registered partnerships play under the ECHR and under EU law. In the concluding chapters the different approaches are analysed and compared. This book provides the basis for an informed discussion on the way forward for jurisdictions reviewing the recognition of adult relationships in general and registered partnership regimes in particular. About the Author Dr Jens M. Scherpe, M.A. (Cantab), MJur (Oxon) is a Senior University Lecturer in Law at the University of Cambridge and a Lecturer and Fellow of Gonville and Caius College and an Honorary Fellow of St. John's College/ University of Hong Kong. He also is an Academic Door Tenant at the Barristers' chambers Queen Elizabeth Building (QEB) in London. He is the Honorary Professor at the University of Aalborg and Cheng Yu Tung Visiting Professor in Law at the University of Hong Kong. In Cambridge Jens teaches comparative law and family law - and comparative family law. Before taking up his position in Cambridge, he was a Research Fellow and Head of the Department for the Law of the Nordic Countries at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg. He has held visiting positions at a number of institutions, including the Australian National University/Canberra, the University of Sydney, the University of Auckland/New Zealand and the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona/Spain. In addition he has lectured on a variety of subjects in numerous countries around the world, including Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Latvia, Ukraine, Singapore, Mauritius and the People's Republic of China. Jens has published widely on a variety of topics. His major publications include several comparative family law studies. His PhD thesis on the out-of-court settlement of consumer disputes (2002) was awarded two prizes, the DIS-Förderpreis 2003/2004 by the German Institution of Arbitration (DIS) and the Otto-Hahn-Medal of the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science for outstanding research achievements of young researchers (2002). He is an Associate Member of the International Academy of Comparative Law/Académie internationale de droit compare, an Associate Fellow of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and a member of the Wissenschaftliche Vereinigung für Familienrecht e.V and of the international board of the "Zeitschrift für das gesamte Familienrecht" (FamRZ).