Oxford Centre for Family Law and Policy

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Activities and Events 2006 – 2007

We have welcomed visits from Professor Kurczewski, Professor Fuszara, Warsaw, Dr Benoit Bastard, Paris, Dr Helen Rhoades, Melbourne, and Professor Sanford Katz, Boston College.

January 4-5th, 2006 International Forum on Child Protection, Diversity and Law St Anne’s College, University of Oxford	In the field of child protection litigation in multi-cultural/multi-faith settings, studies by Julia Brophy, Jagbir Jhutti-Johal, Eleanor McDonald and Charlie Owen have pointed to the need for interdisciplinary dialogue between a range of processionals and disciplines concerned with child maltreatment in diverse settings. The first step in facilitating this dialogue was undertaken in Oxford in 2003 with a forum in Oxford. It has been expanded to an international forum of key researchers and legal practitioners, to bring together a small group of key researchers and lawyers with front-line experience of ‘cross cultural’ issues in child protection litigation in order to explore relevant research, notions of culture and belief systems, and law and legal practices in global economies.
March 2006 St Anne’s College, University of Oxford	"The Making of the Child Support Act", convened by Peter Harris
September 2006 OXFLAP Seminar	"The Australian Children's Programme" - Professor Rosmary Hunter, of University of Kent (formerly, Griffiths University)
March 21, 2007 OXFLAP Seminar	"Principles and Policy: Child Support and Child Contact", an interdisciplinary invited seminar for academics and policy makers convened by Maclean with presentations from Sir Michael Rutter, Professor Nick Wikely and Joan Hunt, drawing on the report of the Commission on the Family - "Families and the State" - Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
March 23, 2007 OXFLAP Seminar	"Millar and McFarlane: Working Through", an interdisciplinary invited seminar for academics, practitioners and judiciary, attended by Baroness Hale of Richmond
April 2007 WELL CHI Network	Final Meeting in Barcelona - papers from Maclean and Kurczewski
July 2007 LSA / SLSA / RCSL Berlin	Papers from Maclean and Fehlberg on Child Maintenance
August 16, 2007 12 noon 32 Wellington Square, Oxford OXFLAP Seminar	"Whither Democracy? how to be a 'good' family lawyer in Shared-Parenting Policy Context" - Dr Helen Rhoades, University of Melbourne
November 16, 2007 St Anne’s College, University of Oxford	A seminar convened by Peter G Harris in Oxford at which major players in the making of the Child Support Act 1991 will discuss before an invited audience their experiences and views on the way the policy development and legeslative process was handled and to what extent that contributed to the perceived successes and shortcomings of the 1991 Act.
November 2007	Peter G Harris to give a paper on the Making of the Children Act and the Child Support Act at the Symposium at London Metropolitan University to mark the 90th anniversary of One Parent Families.
February 2008	Bellagio Residency - Maclean and Kurczewski to work on their comparative study of the legislative process.

Past Events

September 2005	An international interdisciplinary workshop held at International Institute for the Sociology of Law in Onati, Spain, in September 2005, convened by Mavis Maclean and John Eekelaar
July-August 2005	John Eekelaar lecturing in New Zealand
July 2005	Professor Teresa Piconto Novales, University of Zaragoza
February 2005	Dr Becky Batagol, University of Melbourne.
January 7-8, 2005	"The Changing Context of Child Welfare" - WELL CHI Residential international conference held at St Anne's College, Oxford, January 7-8 2005, convened by Professor Jane Lewis, LSE, and Mavis Maclean, OXFLAP. The meeting focussed on the way the responsibility of the individual parent to his child is regulated through family law, and the the way in which the responsibility of society is regulated through family policy.
July 2004	Ango-Australian Seminar held at OXFLAP on "Rules in Big Money Cases" convened by Mavis Maclean and John Eekelaar with Belinda Fehlberg and Richard Ingleby
December 2003	OXFLAP Seminar on "The Four States: Marriage, Cohabitation, Civil Partnership and Parenthood" held at the Nuffield Foundation
July 18-20 2003	Annual International Meeting of the Research Committee on the Sociology of Law 2003 held at St Anne's College, Oxford, convened by Mavis Maclean. Papers presented by John Eekelaar, Sandra Burman, Julia Brophy, Jagbir Jhutti-Johal, Benoit Bastard, and Mavis Maclean
June 2003	Professor Sanford Katz, Boston College, OXFLAP Seminar on "Regulating Civil Partnerships"
May 2003	Dr Helen Rhoades, OXFLAP Seminar on "Supporting Parents or Enforcing Contact"
April 2003	SLSA Nottingham Trent, papers presented by Julia Brophy, Jagbir Jhutti-Johal, Mavis Maclean
March 2003	Stakeholder Seminar on Diversity and Child Protection at OXFLAP, convened by Dr Julia Brophy
September 26, 2002	Mavis Maclean convened an International Workshop at the International Institute for the Sociology of Law in Onati, Spain, on Personal Obligations and Family Law, in which many of our international associates will take part.
August 2002	John Eekelaar gave the opening keynote speech at the 11th World Conference of the International Society of Family Law in Copenhagen on Family Life and Human Rights.
July 6-12, 2002	Mavis Maclean visited the Australian Institute for Family Studies, Melbourne, and the Centre for Law and Social Policy at the University of Brisbane, and spoke at the International Sociological Association meeting in Brisbane.
April 4, 2002	Socio Legal Studies Association Conference, Family Law and Policy Stream participation.
March 2002	John Eekelaar presented a paper at a seminar at Cardiff Law School "Personal Obligations". This examines some theoretical issues underlying imminent OXFLAP research.
March 2002	OXFLAP has organised a Family Law Session at the LSCRC International Conference on Legal Services, with speakers from the US and Australia and the Netherlands addressing the issue of value for money in the provision of legal services for family matters.
February 25, 2002	OXFLAP hosted a Consultation with Family Policy Division of the Lord Chancellor's Department on the publication of the Report of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Board Family Law Committee "Making Contact Work".
February 13, 2002	"Just a piece of paper" A Seminar on Cohabitation was arranged by the Nuffield Foundation to mark the publication of work in this field supported by the Foundation including "Settling Up", the study supported by the Foundation of separating couples both married and living together by Sue Arthur, Jane Lewis, Steven Finch and Rory Fitzgerald of the National Centre for Social Research with Mavis Maclean. The authors found that cohabiting couples separate more quickly and with less professional help that divorcing couples. But where there were children, the parent with care would have had greater protection under the divorce jurisdiction, and furthermore that the Children Act 1989 which can require the use of assets of non married separating couple to be used to benefit the children was not brought into play.
February 6, 2002	The Body Lore and Laws Seminar was held jointly with the Cambridge Socio Legal Group and supported by Hart Publishing to mark the publication of the book of that name, edited by Andrew Bainham, Shelley Sclater and Martin Richards.. The Seminar also marked the publication of "Regulating Reproduction" by Emily Jackson , a former colleague, and the publication of "Learning from Bristol" , the report of the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry for which Mavis Maclean was a panel member.

Oxford Centre for Family Law and Policy (OXFLAP)
Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Oxford, 32 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2ER.

Tel: 44 (0) 1865 270 325
Fax: 44 (0) 1865 270 324