THE FAMILY IN UK LAW AND THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS 1966

The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which the UK is a signatory, requires that protection be given to ‘the family’. In the UK no legal definition of ‘family’ exists. This paper examines the way in which families are constructed in the law of England and Wales. It argues that the law is not based on a consistent notion of what a family is or should be, but rather that different domestic units are treated as familial for different purposes. The arrangements privileged, in the sense that they merit legal regulation, are marital arrangements and heterosexual domestic arrangements. It is argued that this is based on a restrictive notion of what constitutes a family that is violative of certain individual rights under the Covenant. A more comprehensive view of what constitutes a family, based on de facto relationship, rather than marital status or sexual preference, is needed. A further, related, issue examined is whether the restrictions placed on who may marry in the UK, especially with regard to homosexuals and transsexuals, are in violation of the right to marry under the Covenant.