ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a preliminary overview of the fundamental terminology and historical background to some of the key topics that underlie our study of selected aspects of family law – such as the classification of sources of family law, the legal relevance of sex in family law, the evolution of the Western family, trends in marriage, changes in the marital dyad and an overview of the property aspects of marriage – before presenting a global survey of divorce laws, exploring in particular the relevance of the ‘fault/no-fault divide’ in the divorce grounds of various jurisdictions. This introduction provides a comparative historical backdrop to our subsequent study of individual jurisdictions and explores the central concepts underpinning the multi-faceted prism that is family law. The chapter concludes with a review of the possible methodological approaches that are available to a comparatist looking at the development of family law in different jurisdictions and clarifies the approach adopted for this book.
