Child Migration: International Family and Immigration Laws

The Office of the Head of International Family Justice for England & Wales (created in 2005) has advised on ’The need for all involved in family law to integrate a trans-national mind-set into their approach to resolving cases ., especially given globalisation, increasing movement of persons across borders, and the ever rising number of family units which are truly international.’ Child Migration: International Family and Immigration Laws serves to fill that need and gap for a practical text combining cross-disciplinary and jurisdictional issues of the interaction between immigration and family law in relation to the movement of children.Family and immigration law concern State and parental decisions directing children’s placements, travel and the international movements of families. Parents or children in family law cases may be British or foreign nationals, permanent or temporary residents, over stayers, claimants for asylum or the victims of trafficking or of domestic violence in their home countries. These cases can involve vexed questions concerning jurisdiction, identity, parenthood and differing family customs and norms. In some cases the UK Border Agency, immigration appellate authorities and family courts are simultaneously engaged with the same family, determining questions associated with parental/child contact, care and protection or residence. In some cases the Secretary of State for the Home department will intervene in proceedings where a decision in the family court may bring an immigration benefit. This title is of relevance to lawyers dealing with stranded, separated, unaccompanied, adopted, surrogate born, abducted and migrant or refugee children need to know and understand the relevant family and immigration law options and implications. Children in such cases may be separated from their families or carers, may be being reunited with family members or being placed within the wider family. Professionals involved in these cases need to be aware of how families and children will be able to travel to, enter and remain in the UK or leave the UK and enter a foreign jurisdiction and how judgments made in one jurisdiction are or can be recognised in the UK. Children in these cases are often in vulnerable situations which can only be remedied when both their family and immigration problems are resolved. As well as dealing with these legal intersections, Child Migration: International Family and Immigration Laws identifies the legal issues and problems and the multi-disciplinary legal issues embedded in these cases. This work seeks to address these multi-disciplinary and jurisdictional issues and fill a clear gap in the market. It deals with core issues - such as the history of child migration, jurisdiction issues (domicile, habitual residence and the presence of the child) as well as the family and immigration issues associated with family travel, family separation, the creation of family relationships through adoption, surrogacy, guardianship and the movement of unaccompanied and trafficked children. In each and all of these cases, the parties and courts are likely to be dealing with intersecting family and immigration laws. These cases are now more frequent and more complex with one explanation for this increase being the UK’s changed demography. Child Migration: International Family and Immigration Laws has a practical focus providing the detail, case authority, international guidance and practical experience with the case contexts in which these issues arise. The authors include regular sections where following an exposition on the law; they then address the issues by reference to model case facts.It features the core international (UN, Council of Europe, HCCH) and EU family directives, UK wide and English and Scottish family laws, UK wide English and Scottish cases and guidance as well as nationality and immigration laws, rules and policies including:- The Immigration Act 2016- Immigration Rules 2016- Human Fertilisation and Embryology Acts 1990 and 2008- British Nationality Act 1981- The Children Act 1989- The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption (Convention)- European Convention on Human Rights (as amended)Child Migration: International Family and Immigration Laws is an essential guide to this complex area of law for both practitioners at entry level and experienced practitioners.