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Marriage law in England and Wales is a historical relic which reflects a bygone age. Successive governments have made a series of progressive but ad hoc reforms, most notably the introduction of civil partnerships and same-sex marriage. However, this has resulted in a legal framework which is complex and controversial, especially in relation to religion. Different rules apply to different religions and some of the legal requirements indirectly discriminate against some religions that do not have a tradition of marriages occurring in a place of worship. This leads to the problem of unregistered religious marriages where the couple have a religious marriage but do not comply with the requirements to make it legally binding and so on relationship breakdown they do not have the rights that legally married couples enjoy. Moreover, unlike many jurisdictions English law does not recognise weddings conducted by humanist or independent celebrants as being legally binding. This book provides the first accessible guide to how contemporary marriage law affects religion and identifies pressure points particularly in relation to non-religious organisations and unregistered religious marriages. It reveals the need for the consolidation, modernisation and reform of marriage law and sets out proposals for how the transformation of these laws can be achieved.

Taking a multi-disciplinary perspective, and one grounded in human rights, this book explores in depth the journeys unaccompanied child migrants take through the UK legal and care systems. Arriving with little agency, the book considers what becomes of these children as they grow and assume new roles and identities, only to risk losing legal protection as they reach eighteen. Through international studies, and crucially of the young migrants themselves, the book examines the narratives they present, and the frameworks of culture and legislation into which they are placed. Challenging existing policy, it questions, from a social justice perspective, what the treatment of this group tells us about our systems and the cultural presuppositions on which they depend. Contributors are researchers and practitioners in film-making, human geography, law, psychology, psychotherapy, social work and sociology,