A Utopian Dream? A Review of European Family Law European Family Law, Vols I–IV, edited by Jens M. Scherpe

Abstract

Is there such a thing as ‘European family law’? The editor of this impressive set, Jens M. Scherpe, of Cambridge University, thinks there is. Not in the sense of a comprehensive code, but a law ‘comprising principles shared across jurisdictions, and there are institutions and organisations shaping this law’. This covers some areas but not others, but ‘continues to grow’.1 This review will return to this claim at its conclusion, but first it will describe the nature of the material and how it is distributed within the four volumes. Volume I is entitled ‘The Impact of Institutions and Organisations on European Family Law’. There are eight chapters in which distinguished authors cover how the following institutions are developing a ‘European’ family law: the European Union (EU); the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR); the Council of Europe; the International Commission on Civil Status; the Hague Conventions; the Commission on European Family Law (CEFL); and private international law instruments. A closing chapter considers the impact of religion.