Irish family law has been formulated around the concept of the family as a married heterosexual

The case of Jonah v White (2012) 48 FAM LR 562 wishes to appeal the original decision of Murphy J, in which his Honour asserted that the appellant, (“Ms Jonah”) and the respondent (“Mr White”) had not been in a de-facto relationship in correspondence with the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) (“the Act”). The appeal is bought before May, Strickland and Ainslie-Wallace JJ in the Full Court of the Family Court of Australia in Brisbane. The case seeks to question and determine what constitutes a law-binding de-facto relationship.

In recent decades, there has been a shift in the definition of a family to better suit the new emerging alternative family arrangements in today’s society. A family is defined as the natural and fundamental group unit of society especially in relation to the upbringing of children. However, this Eurocentric, nuclear family construct has evolved as alternative family arrangements such as de-facto and same sex relationships as well as adoptive families have become part of the term ‘family’. The domestic legal system has introduced and amended laws to deal with these contemporary issues. Similarly, there are non-legal responses such as the media and various non-governmental organisations, which advocate for various changes to the law in order to achieve greater justice for these families.

For Australian law to be effective it must be dynamic so it can reflect changing societal views, which law reform can help attain. A significant area of recent social change is the acceptance of same-sex relationships in Australian society. To mirror this, current law reforms have been somewhat effective in achieving just outcomes regarding the recognition of same-sex relationships in Commonwealth law. The combination of official recognition of same-sex relationships to an extent, attempts at removing discrimination in legislation, and the delay of justice denotes this. Considering the achievement of justice and the protection of individual’s rights, it is evident that law reform has significantly improved recognition of same-sex relationships, but there are more essential responses that need to be enacted.

Family law is the most complex aspect of the Australian legal system as it is constantly under review and reform pursuing to adopt society’s continual change in values and principles. The changing of laws in an attempt to be parallel with society is a strenuous process. Nevertheless, legislations are reflective of contemporary society’s values and ethics. Numerous legal issues arise in regards to family including, same sex relationships, domestic violence and divorce ideally on the best interest of the child, where family laws have been imposed to protect individuals and aim to achieve justice.

H, 1999, para 9 &13). After separation, M “sought an order for partition and sale of the house and other relief” and spousal support under the Family Law Act” (para14). Both M and H settled their financial disputes (para18). However, M challenged the s.29 of the FLA and argued that definition of spouse in the act was only apply to heterosexual married couples and to unmarried couples who cohabited for maximum for three year (para 50) .The Supreme Court of Canada held that the s.15 (1) of the Charter is infringed by the Family Law Act. Further, the impugned legislation is not saved under s. 1 of the Charter (134). In addition, the FLA constructs distinction between the same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples that resulted in unequal benefits and protection to the claimants and also make same-sex couples vulnerable (para 62, 69). The Supreme Court of Canada declared remedy and gave Ontario six month to change the definition of the spouse (147).

For the past 3 decades the views surrounding marriage has undergone a great deal of change (Lennox, 2015, p. 1101). This shift is due to the continual discussion of gay marriage. The interplay of religion and politics has led for much controversy. In the United States, the use of Christian and Jewish biblical texts are the main sources drawn upon for opposition, but have also been used as a supportive means of equality. Beyond the religious there are also psychological and physical health arguments, as well as civil rights arguments. Same sex marriage is examined through different paradigms, thus giving rise to religious, political/legal, and religious arguments surrounding the legalization of this institution for gay and lesbian couples.

However, the British government’s proposal was to offer LGBT plus couples to form a legal protection equivalent to marriage, but the government stopped proposing same-sex marriage due to having been pressurised from the England churches. Her arguments were stated that marriage was more than simply a set of legal rules. Marriage has a significance that exists beyond and sometimes despite the legal and material reality. Furthermore, marriage confers upon individual the highest social status and approval. Based on those analyses, she concludes that the registered partnerships or civil unions qualified legally speaking that it is different from marriage but have the same rights. Acuity established that the importance marital privileges remain which, paradoxically, the campaigns for same-sex

Such an approach has been considered beyond of the powers of a criminal court and potentially could violate the Article 8 rights which the arguments of extension are predicated on. Arguably, verifying those who are entitled to the spousal privilege by the objective standard of marriage or civil partnership presents a more principled approach30.

Societies changing social values towards the notion of ‘family’ has resulted in the legal system attempting to reform the law to reflect these changes. A family is defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as ‘two or more persons living in the same household related to each other by blood, marriage, de facto, fostering or adoption’. Within the various types of family relationships, varying differences can cause breakdowns. Due to the range family types that exist today, relationship breakdowns have become complex. The legal system aims to provide a fair and equitable outcome, with the aim to achieve justice for all those involved, despite the challenge of conflicting interest of parties.

The law regulating same-sex marriages continues to change, in order to better reflect the community 's opinions and expectations. Within the last decade, Australia has seen substantial changes in the legal recognition of same-sex relationships. This increase in legal recognition is primarily aimed at removal of institutionalized discrimination, as well as providing adequate legal protection of same-sex couples has arisen due to the wide spread changes of opinions about same-sex relationships within society.

The legal system in Australia is continuously evolving and reforming its laws to achieve justice for all members in society. However, contemporary family law issues such as: domestic violence, surrogacy, and same-sex relationships have raised community awareness as important social affairs and the impacts affecting all family members. Therefore, the law along with countless non-government organisations are working towards achieving justice for the modern day Australian family and all it’s members. These are three perfect examples of areas of the law that could be responded to more effectively due to the rapid developments and conflicting ethical views in these areas; impacting on the most vulnerable in our society

In the summer of 2015, history was made in the hallowed halls of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court had made, with a 5-4 majority, a controversial ruling decreeing that denying equal recognition to same-sex couples was in violation of the Equal Protections Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Those on the minority cited concerns of judicial restraint, the connection between marriage and procreation, and whether or not marriage is a Constitutional issue in the first place. Nevertheless, equal recognition for same-sex couples became the law of the land.

A Critical Analysis of; Alexander, Renata (2010) "Moving Forwards Or Back to the Future? An Analysis of Case Law on Family Violence Under the Family Law Act 1975

The proposed legalization of same-sex marriage is one of the most significant issues in contemporary American family law. As a heavily campaigned development currently discussed in law assessment; these extremely confrontational and debatable political questions are facing present day American courts. If same-sex marriage is legalized, its affect on the parents, children, same sex couples, families, and the social and political world will be astronomical. The arguments surrounding the issue though confrontational nonetheless are easily seen from a wide array of perspectives. One of the perspectives states that marriage is a promise to a spouse to stay loyal and faithful in all

The same-sex marriage issue has ignited worldwide. Joseph Chamie- the previous director- and Barry Mirkin-the previous Population Policy Section Chief- of the UN’s Population Division aim to present up-to-date statistics and information on the same-sex marriage debate in “Same-Sex Marriage: A New Social Phenomenon.” They mention that same-sex marriage is a “recent phenomenon” that will possibly stick around for years in many countries because societal, religious, and legislative controversies continually revamp its debate (544). The issue is labeled “recent” because “…SSM [same-sex marriage] did not exist until the twenty-first century when an increasing number of countries began permitting same-sex