The juvenile court of the future will be a viable, but changed, institution largely because of society's need to hold parents accountable for their children's well-being and youths accountable for their actions. The author describes three current trends in juvenile court which will continue to impact the court in the future. First, more jurisdictions will refine and streamline their court struc...

Life-extending treatment, in the form of artificial nutrition and hydration, is often provided to people in permanent vegetative states (PVS) in England and Wales for many years, even when their family believes the patient would not want it and despite the fact that no court in the UK has ever found in favour of continuing such treatment for a patient with a confirmed PVS diagnosis. The first h...

The Druze community in Lebanon constitutes an esoteric religious community characterized by a rejection of any challenge to traditional family values. Research on family relations among this group is scant because of their refusal to disclose information to others. This article looks at one aspect of Druze family life – divorce through a study of court records, proceedings and mediation. The re...

(Editor's Comment: To deal with the practical aspects of getting child abuse cases into court and deciding them in court, Professor Lucy McGough of the Emory Law School, an authority on juvenile law, organized a panel consisting of a juvenile court solicitor who handles deprivation cases, an attorney who has represented the Department of Family and Children Services in their abuse cases, and a ...

The last several decades have seen a proliferation of specialized courts, including within the family court system, that deviate from the adversarial model, and that rely on therapeutic jurisprudence and other problem-solving techniques. Whether and how traditional family courts can incorporate the best practices of these specialized courts is a largely understudied area. Drawing from ethnograp...

Withdrawal of artificially delivered nutrition and hydration (ANH) from patients in a permanent vegetative state (PVS) requires judicial approval in England and Wales, even when families and healthcare professionals agree that withdrawal is in the patient's best interests. Part of the rationale underpinning the original recommendation for such court approval was the reassurance of patients' fam...