Families, Law and Religion

Overview

Program

Family law often reflects deep cultural values and norms. Therefore, exploring how different legal systems address matters related to family relations provides valuable insights into cultural distinctions.  

In Israel, family law, particularly its religion-based laws governing marriage and divorce, is considered to embody the country's identity as a Jewish state, encompassing both its cultural-religious Jewish identity and its connections with the global Jewish community. This course will familiarize you with this unique legal landscape, which combines a mixture of religious and secular-civil laws. Our focus will be on understanding the socio-legal and political dynamics that drive developments in this field, particularly concerning access to marriage, the ability to divorce, reproductive rights, and the establishment of parenthood. You will also be introduced to the complex relationship between the parallel judicial systems that share jurisdiction in matters of family law: the religious courts and the civil family courts.  

The Families, Law and Religion course from  University of Antwerp will also compare Israeli law with different Anglo-American jurisdictions, primarily the U.S., regarding their approach on a number of family law issues. This comparative perspective will equip you with a nuanced understanding of the intricate relationship between law, family, and religion in different cultural contexts.