ABSTRACT The study analyzes how Child Welfare (CW) workers understand suspected violence in families with parents involved in a family law dispute. Typologies of intimate partner violence and constructions of ideal victims constitute the analytical framework. Interviews with 18 CW workers in five group interviews are analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Findings indicate that disputing parents are often not perceived as ideal victims but rather as perpetrators, leading CW workers to interpret violence as situational or as false allegations. This may further contribute to both parents being constructed as perpetrators and the child as a victim of conflict rather than violence.

The book entitled “Handbook of Families in the Arab Gulf States” written by Md Mizanur Rahman et al. (2025) is an academic literature that presents a comprehensive discussion on family law studies to understand the dynamics of social life in the Arab Gulf region (GCC) namely Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain which are undergoing massive social, economic, and cultural transformations due to the currents of globalization and the demands of modernization. The author thoroughly examines changes in family structures, communication patterns, educational frameworks, and marital trends resulting from modern demands. Furthermore, the author highlights the role of women within the family (gender dynamics), patriarchal culture, and divorce. The author posits that state legal policies and technological advancements significantly contribute to shaping family life in the region. Concurrently, migrant families also influence parenting practices and cross-cultural relations within a nation.This book utilizes a scientific approach drawing upon auxiliary disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, psychology, economics, politics, and law. The objective of this book is to provide a comprehensive understanding of how family life in the Gulf states is undergoing massive shifts driven by globalization and modernization. Additionally, it aims to offer deep insights into the role of the family in society, serving as both an object and a subject of change. Within the context of family law, this book examines family law studies from sociological and anthropological perspectives.

The protection of communal land remains a critical issue in Indonesia due to the gap between customary recognition and formal legal certainty. This study examines communal land governance through the Regulation of the Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) No. 14 of 2024 from the perspective of Islamic family law. Using an empirical qualitative approach, data were collected through interviews, observation, and document analysis in Betung Kuning Village. The findings reveal that communal land is socially recognized under customary law but largely unregistered, leading to boundary disputes, inheritance conflicts, weak legal standing, and limited economic utilization. From the perspective of Islamic family law, land registration is essential to ensure clarity of inheritance assets, protect heirs’ rights, and promote distributive justice in line with the principle of ḥifẓ al-māl. Although the regulation represents a progressive legal framework, its implementation faces challenges, including legal fragmentation, low legal literacy, limited historical documentation, financial constraints, and cultural resistance. This study proposes a tripartite harmonization model integrating customary law, Islamic law, and national law to support inclusive and sustainable communal land governance.

Compared to women, men seek romantic relationships more, benefit more from said relationships, are less likely to initiate breakups, and suffer more afterwards.Explanations based on the availability of emotional support are unnecessary. The four patterns can be explained more parsimoniously by sexual selection, which is applicable to all life forms, including humans, and by family law in WEIRD societies.

This study examines the phenomenon of giving monetary envelopes at weddings within Indonesian Muslim society, a practice that often occupies a gray area between voluntary giving (tabarru’) and economic exchange (mu’āwaḍah). The research employs a qualitative method that compares legal theory with empirical realities in the field. The data was collected from several relevant research articles that discuss wedding traditions in various regions. The data analysis was conducted by selecting relevant information, organizing it systematically, and drawing logical conclusions to address the existing legal issues. Through a comparative approach between Islamic Family Law and Islamic Economic Law, this article aims to map the legal status and socio-economic functions of this tradition. The findings indicate that, from the perspective of Islamic Family Law, wedding envelopes are regarded as gifts or grants that serve to strengthen social bonds (silaturahmi). However, from the perspective of Islamic Economic Law, this practice may shift into a form of debt (qardh) when accompanied by record-keeping and expectations of equivalent repayment. This study proposes a classification of wedding envelopes into three categories: pure gifts, social debts, and social investments. In conclusion, the permissibility of this tradition largely depends on the clarity of intention and sincerity, ensuring that such assistance does not become a burdensome obligation in the future.

Hair analysis for drugs of abuse is widely applied in forensic contexts, particularly in family law cases where child protection is a critical consideration. It is recognised that adulteration of hair samples via chemical treatments can occur; however, the specific influences of dye colour on parent drug and metabolite levels have yet to be systematically examined. In this study, 100 authentic hair samples positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH), cocaine (COC) and benzoylecgonine (BZE) were treated with nine permanent dyes and one bleach product. Concentrations were quantified using validated LC-MS/MS methods, and original and post-treatment values were compared statistically via the two-tailed matched pairs t-test. Results demonstrated no consistent influence from dye colour on analyte concentrations. Following treatment, THC and COC concentrations predominantly decreased, consistent with oxidative degradation and reduced binding to the hair matrix. In contrast, THC-COOH and BZE concentrations increased in the majority of samples, suggesting insitu formation from peroxide-mediated oxidation of parent compounds, as well as increased residue release from damaged keratin structures. Bleaching produced the most pronounced changes, with significant decreases in THC, THC-COOH and COC levels and significant increases in BZE. COC was the analyte least affected by treatments overall. These findings indicate that dye colour itself is irrelevant, although chemical treatments can significantly impact toxicological results. Broader implications, such as increased risks of misinterpretation of results from artificially increased or decreased levels (shifted above or below reporting thresholds) and subsequent inaccurate conclusions regarding drug use, must be considered when analysing chemically treated hair samples.

The marriage of women pregnant out of wedlock has received attention in several studies, yet research specifically discussing community leaders’ views on this practice from the perspective of ‘urf in Minangkabau society remains limited. This study aims to analyze the practice of marriage among women pregnant out of wedlock in Nagari Paninggahan, Junjung Sirih Subdistrict, Solok Regency, examine community leaders’ views on this practice, and analyze it from the perspective of ‘urf as one of the considerations in Islamic law. This study used a qualitative approach with a case study design, involving customary leaders, Islamic religious scholars, niniak mamak, bundo kanduang, and community members selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation, and were then analyzed using the interactive analysis technique of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña, which includes data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The results show that the practice of marriage among women pregnant out of wedlock in Nagari Paninggahan is carried out as a form of social and customary resolution to preserve family honor, protect women and children, and prevent social conflict within the community. The majority of community leaders support this practice because it is viewed as bringing greater benefit than allowing the problem to develop without resolution. This finding contributes to the development of Islamic family law studies based on local wisdom and broadens understanding of the relationship between custom and Islamic law in Minangkabau society. The conclusion of this study emphasizes the importance of synergy between customary and religious approaches in resolving social problems in society. The practical implications of this study indicate the need to strengthen moral guidance and religious education for the younger generation as a preventive effort against similar social problems.

ABSTRACT This article examines the complex and often contradictory role of concubinage within the intersecting domains of family, custom, and colonial law in India from 1757 to 1947. While concubinage was historically embedded in South Asian social structures particularly in elite households and among colonial officials the onset of British legal reforms reshaped its meanings and legitimacy. Through an analysis of legal cases, colonial records, and contemporary discourse, the article explores how concubinage challenged the colonial state’s attempts to codify personal law and impose Victorian ideals of domesticity. The legal system increasingly sought to formalize marriage, inheritance, and legitimacy, often marginalizing women in concubinage relationships and their children. Yet, these relationships persisted in practice, revealing deep tensions between lived realities and legal structures. The article argues that concubinage became a site of negotiation where indigenous customs, gender hierarchies, and colonial moralities collided. By focusing on the ways courts, reformers, and communities interpreted and contested concubinage, this study illuminates the broader politics of family, gender, and social reform in colonial India. Ultimately, the article contributes to the historical sociology of law by foregrounding how non-marital domestic arrangements were entangled in the making of colonial legal modernity.

Abstract This article examines caregiving inequality in South Korea through an integrated legal‐empirical analysis of the Korean Time Use Survey (KTUS), constitutional interpretation, and family and labor law architecture. Rather than treating low fertility as a policy failure to be corrected, it approaches demographic decline as an aggregation of private choices, or a structural outcome reflecting how caregiving is legally recognized, institutionally allocated, and culturally mediated. Drawing on repeated cross‐sectional data from the 2019–2020 and 2024–2025 cycles of the KTUS, the article demonstrates that marriage has not functioned as a site of gender‐equal redistribution of care. By enabling longitudinal comparison of daily caregiving practices, the Survey serves as an empirical tool for evaluating whether formally gender‐neutral legal entitlements translate into substantive equality in everyday life. Both cycles of the KTUS show that unpaid care work remains persistently feminized within marriage, while caregivers outside legal marriage are structurally excluded from labor‐law protections. The article further analyzes how Korean family and labor law allocate caregiving entitlements through marriage‐ and lineage‐based definitions derived from the Civil Act. Although labor statutes are framed in gender‐neutral terms, parental and spousal leave operate not according to caregiving function, but through compliance with marital form. This structure presumes that marriage reliably organizes care and internalizes dependency—a presumption that is empirically and doctrinally unsustainable. By tracing the interaction between empirical patterns, constitutional principles of equality and dignity, and labor‐law entitlement design, the article argues that formally gender‐neutral caregiving rights produce substantively unequal outcomes when filtered through marital status, raising a constitutional question about whether the adequacy of marital status as the gateway to care protection may continue.

The steady increase in divorce cases in Indonesia suggests that many couples begin married life without adequate emotional, financial, or intellectual readiness. In response, the government encourages premarital education as a preventive initiative designed to equip future spouses with the skills needed to manage potential domestic difficulties. Viewed through the lens of maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah, this initiative supports the essential goals of Islamic law, namely the promotion of well-being at the personal, family, community, and national levels. This study argues that premarital education reflects the core principles of Islamic legal ethics and functions as a normative expression of the sharī‘ah. Using a normative-theoretical legal framework combined with a maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah analysis, the research engages Qur’anic and Hadith texts, classical and modern fiqh discussions, uṣūl al-fiqh, Indonesian regulatory provisions on premarital counseling, and scholarly works on Islamic Family Law. The results show that major triggers of marital breakdown emotional instability, financial pressure, recurring disputes, and limited understanding of marital responsibilities can be reduced through structured premarital education. These programs strengthen spiritual awareness, emotional resilience, communication skills, conflict-resolution abilities, and economic management. Consequently, premarital education becomes a strategic mechanism for nurturing harmonious households and reinforcing the framework of Islamic Family Law in Indonesia, positioning it as a sharī‘ah oriented tool vital for contemporary social welfare.

The wasiat wajibah is a form of reform in Islamic inheritance law that has evolved to provide protection to family members who do not receive their rights under the classical inheritance system. This study aims to analyze the regulations governing wasiat wajibah in Indonesia, Egypt, and Pakistan and to assess their relevance as an instrument of family protection from the perspective of the maqashid al-sharia. This study employs a normative legal method using legislative, conceptual, and comparative legal approaches. Legal materials were obtained from legislation, legal literature, and scholarly articles, which were analyzed qualitatively. The results indicate that all three countries share the same objective to provide economic protection to family members who may lose their rights due to the application of the classical inheritance system but employ different mechanisms. Indonesia regulates the mandatory bequest for adopted children and adoptive parents through Article 209 of the Compilation of Islamic Law; Egypt grants a mandatory bequest to grandchildren who are barred from receiving an inheritance through Qanun al-Wasiyyah No. 71 of 1946; while Pakistan implements a system of heir representation through Article 4 of the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance of 1961. From the perspective of maqashid al-sharia, these three models are oriented toward the protection of descendants (hifz al-nasl) and the protection of property (hifz al-mal), thereby demonstrating that Islamic inheritance law possesses the flexibility to achieve justice and the public interest in accordance with the needs of society.

This community service activity aims to empower mosque youth through maqashid-based Islamic family law literacy as a preventive strategy against child marriage. The persistence of child marriage remains a significant social issue, particularly in coastal and rural communities, and is influenced by limited legal awareness, entrenched socio-cultural norms, and partial religious understanding that tends to emphasize formal legality rather than substantive objectives. This program applies a Community-Based Research (CBR) approach involving 47 mosque youth as active participants. The implementation includes several stages, namely social mapping to identify community conditions, development of legal literacy modules based on maqashid al-shariah, participatory training sessions, and the formation of peer educators to ensure program sustainability. Data were collected through observation, interviews, focus group discussions, and pre- and post-tests to measure changes in participants’ knowledge and attitudes. The results indicate a significant increase in legal literacy, with an improvement of 45–60%, along with a notable shift in participants’ perspectives toward delaying marriage until achieving adequate psychological, social, and economic readiness. The maqashid-based approach proved effective in transforming normative religious perspectives into more contextual and substantive legal awareness. This activity highlights the strategic role of mosque-based empowerment as a culturally relevant and sustainable approach to strengthening community legal awareness and preventing child marriage, particularly by positioning youth as agents of social change within their communities.

This study examines the phenomenon of wali adhal in Islamic marriage through a socio-legal analysis of a case in Pilangsari Village, Indramayu, Indonesia. While previous studies have primarily focused on the legal aspects of guardianship refusal and judicial mechanisms for transferring guardianship authority, limited attention has been given to economic exploitation as a motive underlying marriage obstruction. This research aims to analyze how economic interests shape guardianship practices and influence women’s access to marriage and legal protection. Employing a qualitative empirical legal research design with a socio-legal approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews, participant observation, and document analysis involving the prospective bride, prospective groom, lineage guardian, family members, community leaders, and officials from the local Office of Religious Affairs (KUA). The findings reveal that the guardian’s refusal to approve the marriage constituted wali adhal because it was not based on legitimate Islamic legal considerations but rather on economic motives, including financial demands and efforts to maintain long-standing economic benefits derived from the daughter’s income as an Indonesian migrant worker. The study further demonstrates that economic exploitation was reinforced by patriarchal authority and unequal family power relations, transforming guardianship from a protective institution into a mechanism of economic control. As a consequence, the prospective bride ultimately entered into an unregistered (sirri) marriage after mediation efforts failed. This study contributes to Islamic family law scholarship by introducing economic exploitation as an analytical framework for understanding contemporary manifestations of wali adhal and highlights the importance of strengthening legal literacy, improving access to justice, and enhancing institutional protection for women facing guardianship-related marriage obstruction.

Final-year female students are frequently confronted with a dilemma between pursuing further education and entering the workforce, which leads them either to postpone marriage or to prioritize personal relationships through marriage. This phase represents a transitional period toward professional life. Balancing academic responsibilities and marital life simultaneously presents considerable challenges. This study aimed to analyze the factors contributing to the emergence of the dilemma of marriage postponement, the strategies employed by female students in coping with the resulting internal conflicts, the perspective of Islamic family law on this dilemma, and the influence of educational attainment on partner selection criteria. This research adopted a qualitative method with a case study approach focusing on final-year female students at the Sekolah Tinggi Dirasat Islamiyah Imam Syafi’i. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with research participants, and analyzed using the Miles and Huberman model. The findings revealed that: (1) there are four primary factors contributing to the dilemma of marriage postponement among the students; (2) four key strategies are employed by the students to cope with the internal conflict associated with postponing marriage; (3) the dilemma of marriage postponement is perceived as a test of faith; and (4) educational level significantly influences the criteria used in selecting a prospective spouse.

ABSTRACT This project examined published reports from journalists and legal bloggers attending private family law proceedings in England and Wales. This pilot analysis explores issues in private and public family law proceedings with a focus on abuse allegations, use of ‘parental alienation,’ the role of journalists in enhancing transparency, and the involvement and impact of Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Services (Cafcass) or experts on contact outcomes. A mixed methods analysis was used to outline overarching themes (Thematic Analysis) positioned alongside percentages and common statistical tests on variable relationships. Initial findings align with existing literature in suggesting there is a theme of abusive fathers alleging ‘parental alienation’ against victim-mothers, a theme of pro-contact culture influencing contact maintenance with abusive parents, a theme of power held by Cafcass and experts in determining contact, and a serious pattern of administrative delays in cases concerning highly vulnerable individuals. Initial recommendations based on preliminary findings, aligned with existing literature, are to prohibit allegations of ‘alienation’ and ensure protections are in place for abuse survivors in the Family Court. A prior recommendation was to repeal the presumption of contact, but the government announced commitment to this change during the course of this work.

Marriage registration is an important aspect of the family law system in Indonesia as it relates to legal certainty, protection of women's and children's rights, and orderly population administration. However, in practice, there are still rural communities that conduct marriages without official registration. This phenomenon also occurs in Pasrepan Village, Pasrepan District, Pasuruan Regency. This study aims to examine the level of community understanding regarding the importance of marriage registration and to analyze how this practice is viewed from the perspectives of Islamic law and Indonesian positive law. The study was conducted from January to February 2025 using a qualitative approach through observation, interviews, and documentation involving members of the local community. The collected data were analyzed descriptively to illustrate the social conditions and legal awareness of the community regarding marriage registration. The results show that some community members still believe that a marriage that is valid according to religious norms is sufficient without official registration by the state. Limited understanding of the legal function of marriage registration, along with socio-cultural factors, contributes to the persistence of this practice. From the perspective of Islamic law, marriage registration can be understood as an effort to safeguard public welfare (maslahah) and to ensure legal protection for family members. Therefore, increasing legal education and public awareness is essential to encourage communities to register marriages in accordance with applicable legal regulations.

This article reconstructs Islamic family law in response to the household-level consequences of global climate change, placing ecological resilience within the framework of maqāṣid al-sharīʿah (the higher objectives of Islamic law). It argues that the stability of the Muslim household (ṣulb al-usrah al-islāmiyyah) cannot be separated from the twin duties of istiʿmār al-arḍ (stewardship of the earth) and ḥifẓ al-bīʾah (protection of the environment). To develop that argument, the article draws together three analytical traditions: Jasser Auda’s maqāṣid al-sharīʿah Systems Theory, David Schlosberg’s Ecological Justice Theory, and Margaret Urban Walker’s Everyday Ethics Theory. The research is qualitative and descriptive, applying critical hermeneutics to classical works in uṣūl al-fiqh and fiqh al-usrah alongside contemporary scholarship on Islamic environmental ethics. The findings indicate that climate resilience within Islamic family law depends less on technological or economic adjustment than on the ethical resources already embedded in the sharīʿah value system. The novelty of the study lies in its repositioning of Islamic family law as a framework of micro-ethical governance, one that operationalizes ecological justice at the level of the home and connects classical juristic reasoning with the climate debates of the present.

Abstract— India faces an acute problem of legal accessibility, with about 2 lawyers per 1000 people. Complicated legal jargon, expensive consultation fees, and lack of knowledge hinder many people from seeking justice. Pocket Specter is a specialized domain AI SaaS platform that tries to fill the void by using a Retrieval Augmentation Generation mechanism. The Pocket Specter software includes legal chatbot based on AI technology and intelligent document analysis in the fields of consumer, labour, and family laws. Pocket Specter uses BGE-M3 embeddings in combination with PostgreSQL pgvector technology with a large language model to base their responses on legal documents, minimizing hallucinations. In addition, the document analysis tool analyzes and highlights important information about responsibilities and potential risks in uploaded documents in .pdf/.docx formats. According to experiment results, Pocket Specter is more than 75% relevant in legal responses in comparison with simple LLM methods. Index Terms—Retrieval-Augmented Generation, Legal AI, Natural Language Processing, pgvector, Document Analysis, Large Language Models, SaaS, India.

Permanency planning, an approach to the placement of children in out-of-home care, is central to child and family system practice, policy and law. Using the example of legislative reforms in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, this article explores how privileging legal permanence leads to ongoing failures to account for Aboriginal worldviews and child-rearing practices. Drawing on qualitative research, including Yarning Circles and semi-structured interviews that I conducted with Aboriginal community members in NSW, the findings contribute to limited evidence on permanence from Indigenous perspectives, revealing how familial and cultural connectedness shape belonging and social and emotional wellbeing and highlighting the importance of children’s ongoing connections with extended Aboriginal family, community and culture. Aboriginal understandings of permanence align more closely with cultural, relational and physical domains than with the construct of legal permanence that predominates in permanency planning approaches. Prioritizing legally permanent care arrangements above other domains poses long-term risks to Aboriginal children’s social and emotional wellbeing, demonstrating the need for “deep-level” cultural adaptation in child welfare law, policy and practice. The findings have implications for decolonizing child protection and repositioning Aboriginal conceptualizations of permanence as the foundation for legislation, policy and practice—reforms that must be Indigenous-led, culturally grounded from the outset, and anchored in full implementation of principles embedding self-determination and Indigenous children’s fundamental rights.

This research analyzes the fulfillment of women's post-divorce financial rights within Indonesia's Islamic family law, confronting classical fiqh dogmas with human rights principles and maqashid al-syariah. Despite progressive legal frameworks and Supreme Court guidelines, empirical data reveals a systemic failure in securing alimony, particularly during wife-initiated divorces. Utilizing a mixed-methods socio-legal approach, this study identifies patriarchal interpretations, procedural rigidities like verstek rulings, and the crucial absence of an authorized state executorial body as fundamental obstacles. The findings indicate that relying solely on judicial ex officio interventions remains insufficient without structural reforms. To eliminate post-divorce economic marginalization and achieve substantive gender justice, Indonesia urgently requires the establishment of an autonomous execution institution. This agency must be fully integrated with the national banking sector to enforce alimony compliance directly. Ultimately, such transformation successfully harmonizes Islamic legal objectives with modern human rights standards, ensuring comprehensive protection for vulnerable women and young children nationwide.