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UK/EU Family law after Brexit: a speech to the European Parliament
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Speech given by Prof David Hodson OBE MICArb to the European Parliament on 16 May 2018
I am a solicitor mediator and arbitrator practising exclusively in international family law matters from a law firm in Covent Garden London and a member of the family law committee of The Law Society of England and Wales. We have 175 000 solicitors. Specifically about 12 000 solicitors undertake family law work. There are 2 500 family law barristers. In addition Scotland and Northern Ireland are part of the UK but separate jurisdictions in family law.
Without any doubt we are the largest family lawyer community in the EU. There are good reasons because of the distinctive nature of our law.
We are also a very specialist profession with high levels of education and awareness. This extends to international aspects in a direct response by our legal profession to the needs of our international community in the UK to whom I now turn.
The UK is very probably the most international family jurisdiction in the world. (The USA is of course multiple jurisdictions.) Moreover unlike some countries our international families are... Read the full article here.
