Overview
This course examines the legal regulation of intimate relationships, family formation, parenthood, and reproductive decision-making. It addresses the formation and dissolution of marriage and partnership, validity, maintenance, property division, domestic violence, protective orders, custody, guardianship, access, relocation, adoption, foster care, and the best-interests principle.
The course considers contraception, abortion, assisted reproductive technologies, donor conception, surrogacy, fertility treatment, embryo status, genetic testing, parental status, consent, and confidentiality. Students assess the legal recognition of diverse families, gender identity, sexual orientation, customary and religious practices, and the effects of poverty, disability, migration, and coercion on family disputes.
Emphasis is placed on constitutional rights, equality, autonomy, culture, child welfare, child participation, professional ethics, trauma-informed practice, mediation, multidisciplinary collaboration, and the limits of state intervention in private life. Students apply legislation and precedent, evaluate evidence, advise clients sensitively, draft family-law documents, and formulate procedurally fair, culturally responsive, and ethically defensible solutions.
Learning Outcomes
- Apply family and reproductive law statutes, regulations, and leading precedent to complex factual scenarios.
- Analyze competing rights and interests involving autonomy, equality, privacy, family integrity, child welfare, and state intervention.
- Evaluate evidence concerning children, vulnerability, coercion, domestic violence, relocation, incapacity, and contested parenthood.
- Advise clients sensitively and ethically on relationship breakdown, parenting arrangements, reproductive decisions, and dispute-resolution options.
- Draft procedurally sound family-law documents, including applications, affidavits, parenting proposals, protective-order materials, and settlement terms.
- Assess the legal implications of assisted reproductive technologies, donor conception, surrogacy, genetic testing, embryo status, consent, and confidentiality.
- Synthesize culturally aware, trauma-informed, and multidisciplinary approaches to family disputes involving diverse families and customary or religious practices.
- Formulate legally defensible recommendations that protect child participation and promote the best interests of children.
Timetable
| Type | Length | Frequency | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 2 hours | Weekly | All semester |
| Tutorial | 1 hour | Weekly | All semester |
| Workshop | 2 hours | Fortnightly | All semester |
| Practicum | 2 hours | Fortnightly | Second term |
Assessment Schedule
| Type | Description | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Case analysis memorandum | 20.00% |
| Assignment | Legislative and precedent research assignment | 20.00% |
| Deliverable | Drafting exercise: family-law documents | 15.00% |
| Tutorial | Client advisory and mediation simulation | 15.00% |
| Exam | Final examination | 30.00% |
Prerequisites
Teaching Staff & Programs
This course is delivered jointly by faculty from the participating programs listed below. In line with the Douchewater Way, the University of Sexology tailors core instruction directly to each cohort's specific discipline — adapting curriculum to program needs rather than forcing students into a one-size-fits-all model. Learn more about our approach at The Douchewater Way.
