4 May 2006
Guide to Scotland's new family law rushed into print by Dundee University Press
NOTE - Professor Norrie is available for interview from 2 pm today - contact numbers below.
A new guide to The Family Law Scotland Act (2006) which came into force on 4 May is published by Dundee University Press (DUP) Ltd - one of the first books from the academic press’s rapidly expanding law division.
Solicitors, social workers, advisers and academics seeking to understand the new legislation and how it will be applied will find the new book by Professor Kenneth Norrie a valuable companion to the Act. The DUP title - The Family Law Scotland Act (2006) Text and Commentary - was scheduled to be published later this year but is being fast tracked through the production process with the Act coming into force earlier than expected.
Author Professor Kenneth Norrie, Head of the Law School at the University of Strathclyde, said: "The Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 is a dramatic new piece of legislation which fundamentally alters the rules governing couples who live together but who are not married or in a civil partnership. It also amends a large number of disparate areas, including grounds for divorce, financial provision, civil partnership, children, domicile, legitimacy and forbidden degrees. It is no exaggeration to say that it is the most significant piece of family law legislation for 20 years, and the most wide-ranging ever. The Scottish Parliament is to be congratulated for passing such a legally complex and socially transformative piece of legislation."
The Dundee University Press book provides an essential working tool for family law practitioners and a guide for anyone who needs to understand the impact of the new legislation.
The book covers marriage and civil partnership, occupancy rights, interdicts and powers of arrest, divorce and dissolution, children, cohabitation, civil partners and same sex cohabitants, jurisdiction and private international law.
Professor Norrie has been working on the text for some months but finishing touches to the guide had to wait until the final version of the Act was agreed. He described the last minute process:
"We knew what was expected to be in the Act but had to wait until the last minute to be absolutely sure everything was set out as clearly and as accurately as possible. Late amendments have caused some problems that the courts will have to resolve, but by and large the Parliamentary process vastly improved the Bill as it was debated."
Copies will be in the bookshops from 14 June. Around a dozen law books are scheduled to be published by DUP over the coming year including a new Law Essentials series for law students in Scotland.
The Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006: Text and Commentary by Kenneth Norrie is published in paperback by Dundee University Press Ltd price £15. ISBN 1845860071. It is available from good bookshops or direct from dup@dundee.ac.uk
Contact Information
For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate
Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
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