About the Organiser

National Law University, Jodhpur is a public law school and a National Law University established under the National Law University, Jodhpur, Act, 1999 enacted by the Rajasthan State Legislature.

About the Seminar

Family law plays a crucial role in nearly every aspect of our lives. The past few decades have witnessed myriad changes in the realm of family law in India. These changes have been triggered by transitioning notions of equality, liberty, and justice. Stakeholders from various strata of the societal edifice have identified and advocated the need to address these concerns.

Family laws in India are always associated with religious personal laws and its ambiguity when it comes to the issue of minority religions as well as its treatment of women has been a source of consistent critique. Further scrutiny, however, reveals that the institutions that form the basis of family laws itself are challenged in several ways. 

Currently, family as a concept is no longer confined to blood relations and has expanded to include adoption, surrogacy, and alternative family structures such as the hijra communities or even polycules.

Marriage is no longer restricted to cisgender; heterosexual couples and the queer rights movement is fighting a two-fold battle to include queer persons within the scope of individuals eligible to get married while simultaneously challenging the institution of marriage itself.

This warrants an urgent conversation on how family law can be reimagined to not merely accommodate diversity but fulfil the needs and secure the rights of the individuals and communities it is applicable to.

This changing understanding of family not only affects the legal framework but also has consequences on the social and economic rights of individuals. Scrutiny of the existing framework from an academic lens can assist in confronting the variety of dilemmas it presents.

The National Law University, Jodhpur is organizing a two-day National Seminar on: “Revisiting the Current Regime of Family Law in India”.

This seminar strives to revisit the family law of India to complement critical gender theory, social and economic justice while simultaneously keeping it grounded within the constitutional theory and a rights-oriented framework.

They hope to engage with and contribute to contemporary family law scholarship by facilitating academic discussions with emerging scholars, lawyers, and academics.

The Seminar shall be held over a period of two days where esteemed speakers shall be deliberating on the key issues pertaining to the contemporary challenges the family law regime in India faces.

Seminar Structure

This seminar shall be conducted over a period of 2 days through an online platform, i.e., Cisco Webex:

• Day 1: The seminar shall commence with a keynote address by the Hon’ble Vice Chancellor and the Guest of Honour. This would be followed by the parallel sessions of paper presentations chaired by the esteemed panelists. The day would end with a panel discussion.
• Day 2: Paper presentations will continue, followed by a panel discussion. The seminar will conclude with a keynote address by the Guest of Honour followed by the vote of thanks.

Seminar Objectives

• To encourage discourse on feminist and rights-oriented approaches to family law.
• To provide participants with an opportunity to research on the emerging and relevant areas of family law.
• To promote interdisciplinary scholarship in the areas of family law, social and economic rights, and contemporary gender theory.
• To provide students and expert academicians in the field a platform to engage in discussions on family law.

Themes

The following list is exhaustive in nature. All the submissions must adhere to the mentioned themes
and sub-themes.

A.The shift in the tide

• Changing contours of family and marriage.
• Status of a deemed marriage.
• Locating live-in-relationship in the family law framework.
• Same-sex marriage.
• Civil Partnerships.
• Polygamy.
• Adoption.
• Surrogacy and Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART).
• Pre-Nuptial Agreement.
• Alternative Dispute Resolution in family law matters.
• Dissonance between regional customs and existing family.

B. Constitution, Rights, and Family Law

• Article 13 and Personal laws.
• Right to equality and religious freedom.
•  Legal pluralism and Uniform Civil Code.
•  Right to privacy and Family Law.
•  Child Marriage.

C. Paternalism in Indian Family law

• The existing framework of custody and guardianship law.
• Inheritance Laws.
• Anti-conversion Laws.
•  Conjugal Rights.

D. Family Law and Economic Justice

• The social importance of financial independence.
• Inheritance laws through the lens of gender justice.
• Right to choose and inheritance.
• Dilemma of Supreme Court and Section 16 of Hindu Marriage Act,1955.
• The interplay of right to work and matrimonial property.
• Revisiting the framework of maintenance.
• Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.

E. LGBTQIA+ community and Family Law

• Understanding sex, gender, and sexuality.
• Legislative frameworks: Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
• Role of Judiciary and Legislature.
• Reviewing the existing framework of family law from a queer lens.

F. Judicial Engagement with Family Law

Eligibility Criteria

Papers shall be accepted from individuals belonging to the following categories:

• PhD Students:  INR 600
• Academicians, Advocates and Researchers: INR 1200

Submission Guidelines

• The abstract shall be of 300-350 words.
• The abstract must contain the names, email addresses and designations of the authors.
• The abstract is to be submitted through this link.
• For the purpose of convenience, kindly ensure that the abstract reflects the core argument of the author and is complete in all respects.

Important Dates

• Deadline for submission of abstracts: 15th March 2022
• Announcement of accepted abstracts: 18th March 2022 (onwards)
• Last date for payment of registration Fees: 30th March 2022
• Deadline for manuscript submission: 17th April 2022
• Seminar Event Dates: 20th-21st April 2022

Brochure

Contact details

Mail at: familylawseminar@nlujodhpur.ac.in

Convener:
Preeti Badola
Assistant Professor
National Law University Jodhpur
+91 9811382817

Student Co-ordinators:
Shubha Ojha- +91 7297098981
Vinayak Goel- +91 9971901466

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