About us
The International Network of Constitutional Family Law (INCFL) is a group of academics and professionals dedicated to the study and promotion of debates on jurisprudence and legislation in the field of Constitutional Law and family relations, with a comparative perspective. The INCFL operates around four thematic lines of research, which are executed in annual thematic projects, publications, jurisprudence bases and spaces for academic and professional debate.
Members
The INCFL is made up of academics, judges and professionals from different regions of the world, experts in the field of Family Law, Constitutional Law and Human Rights.
Network projects
The INCFL structures its work around 4 lines of research for the period 2019-2022. Each of these lines leads to a thematic project per year, from which comparative research is derived (one book per year) and activities associated with said research (conferences, seminars, courses, etc.).
Constitutionalisation of Family Law (2019)
This project studies the progressive process of constitutionalisation of family relationships in different compared legal systems. In particular, the way in which new family configurations, relationships between parents and children, the recognition of identity, equality between spouses and the opinion of children, have become the object of judicial regulation and interpretation at the constitutional level.
Academic contributions to the project have been made by INCFL´s members Leonor Etcheberry, Ton Liefaard, Ana María Ibarra Olguin, Sofia Treviño, Rachel Taylor, Marisa Herrera, Monica Arango, Karyna Sposato, Rosa Celorio and Nicolas Espejo Yaksic. The project includes an analysis of the jurisdictions of Mexico, England, the Netherlands, Brazil, the United States of America, Colombia, Chile and Argentina.
Parental Responsibility (2020-2021)
Collective work that brings together a group of authors from various jurisdictions to discuss the conceptual scope, legal regulation and constitutional case law on parental responsibility. In particular, this research project explores the legal transformations experienced in the field of parental rights, responsibilities and authorities, from a child rights perspective.
The project includes a review of specific debates in the field of parental responsibilities, as well as a more detailed review of their regulation in jurisdictions such as Mexico, Ireland, Spain, Chile, Australia, South Africa, Germany, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, the United States of America and England. Authors include Louise Crowley, Anne Sanders, Daniel Delgado, Julia Sloth-Nielsen, Fabiola Lathrop, Margaret Ryznar, Marisa Herrera Josep Ferrer-Riba, Alma Beltrán-Puga, Meda Couzens, Amira Aftab, Jonathan Herring, Rafael de Sampaio Cavichioli, Alejandra Cortázar and Nicolás Espejo Yaksic
Date of publication of the work: First Semester of 2021.
Surrogacy (2021-2022)
Collective project developed by the Center for Constitutional Studies of the SCJN and the Cambridge Family Law Center (FLC) that seeks to present a general analytical overview of surrogacy in Latin America. The project uses a common questionnaire structure for all the selected jurisdictions and that allows understanding the regulated aspects (specifically or derived from general rules) around the existence of surrogacy agreements, enforceability criteria, determination of paternity, among many others.
Jurisdictions studied include Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Guatemala, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Peru and Brazil. INCFL members that participate in this Project are: Mariana Iturburu, Joyceanne Menezes, Gustavo Leite, Natalia Rueda, Alberto Jiménez Mata, Fabiola Lathrop, Sonia Merlyn, Sonia Merlyn, Fernando Sosa, Paula Siverino, Esther Vicente, Antonia participate in the project. Josefina Grullón, Delia Sánchez, Claire Fenton-Glynn, Jens M. Scherpe, Fabiola Lathrop and Nicolás Espejo Yaksic.
Date of publication of the work: Second Semester of 2021 (Spanish); First semester of 2022 (English).
Constitutional rights of the child (2022)
The project seeks to account for the constitutionalisation of children's rights in Latin America, from a judicial and dogmatic perspective. The project emphasizes the evolution of jurisprudence that incorporates the principles and criteria developed in the field of the rights of children and adolescents, either by reference to explicit constitutional norms or implicit contents of the constitutional systems of the Region, in various normative fields. Jurisdictions that are part of the project include Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Venezuela, Cuba, Guatemala, Dominican Republic.
Publication dates: first half of 2022.
INCFL Publications
This section includes a series of publications developed by the INCFL and its members.
- The Constitutionalisation of Family Law (available)
- Parental Responsibility (available, May 2021)
- Surrogacy in Latin American Law (available, December 2021)
- The constitutional rights of children and adolescents in Latin America (available, August 2022)
Landmark cases
The “Landmark Decisions on Constitutional Family Law Project” seeks to identify a series of relevant judicial precedents in matters such as best interest of the child, domestic violence, gender equality and parental responsibility, among others. In a simple format, leading experts on constitutional and family law from various jurisdictions have selected some of the most fundamental judicial decisions for their study and use.
The first part of the project includes case law from Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, the United States of America and Costa Rica.
Issues
- Family diversity
- Parental responsibility
- Gender and domestic violence
- Equality between partners
- Right to identity
- Best interest of the child
- Child protection
Search
- Country
- Subject matter in the field of constitutionalisation of Family Law
- Case summary file
- Link to the decision in full format
Coordination of the Project
- Nicolás Espejo Yaksic (CEC- Mexico)
- Diana Suárez Galán (CEC-Mexico)
