JORGE RODRIGUES SIMAO

Family Law -- Divorce, child custody, child support (Video)

FAMILY LAW WIKIPEDIA

International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers

WHAT IS FAMILY LAW?

Family law is of fairly recent invention, especially as an academic subject, credit for this achievement usually going to Professor Peter Bromley, who published the first edition of his now well known textbook in 1957. In the same decade, a practical text on ‘Divorce’, as the general subject of family law was then called, was published by Dmitri Tolstoy. Tolstoy was an ex-patriate Russian aristocrat practising at the common law end of the English Bar, and the father of the then equally unknown historian Nikolai Tolstoy, later famously sued by Lord Aldington for defamation in relation to the West’s alleged post-Second World War betrayal of the Cossacks. At this time, only 50 years ago, Sir John Mortimer had not elevated to literary fame, nor into the realm of classic television entertainment, the career of his father, the blind divorce lawyer Clifford Mortimer, and neither family law in general nor divorce (its best known feature) in particular featured in serious academic programmes.

Global Food Security

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION - FOOD SECURITY

“The latest FAO estimates indicate that the trend in global hunger reduction continues. About 805 million people were estimated to be chronically undernourished in 2012–14, down by more than 100 million over the last decade and by 209 million since 1990–92. However, about one in every nine people in the world still has insufficient food for an active and healthy life. The vast majority of these undernourished people live in developing countries, where an estimated 791 million were chronically hungry in 2012–14.”

The State of Food Insecurity in the World: Strengthening the enabling environment for food security and nutrition

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

 A cada época correspondem diferentes desafios. E cada desafio exige respostas específicas. Na década de 1960 a fome ameaçava a Ásia meridional. A Revolução Verde foi a resposta correcta para a iminente crise alimentar que o mundo enfrentava há meio século. Felizmente, na actualidade não estamos perante a perspectiva de uma fome de grande amplitude, mas encontramo-nos numa encruzilhada.

LAWYERS

Civil lawyers

Lawyers in the civil law world differ fundamentally from their common law colleagues. Indeed, the very concept of a legal profession in the major civil law jurisdictions of Europe, Latin America, Japan, and Scandinavia is problematic. In the words of a leading authority on the subject, ‘The common law folk concept of “lawyer” has no counterpart in European languages …’ Civil law jurisdictions recognize two categories of legal professionals: the jurist and the private practitioner. The former comprises law graduates, while the latter, unlike the position in common law countries, does not represent the nucleus of the legal profession. Instead, ‘other subsets of law graduates take precedence – historically, numerically, and ideologically. These include the magistracy (judges and prosecutors) … civil servants, law professors, and lawyers employed in commerce and industry.’ Students in civil law countries typically decide on their future after graduation. And, as mobility within the profession is limited, in many jurisdictions this choice is likely to be conclusive. They may choose to pursue the career of a judge, a public prosecutor, a government lawyer, an advocate, or notary. Private practice is therefore generally divided between advocates and notaries. The former has direct contact with clients, and represents them in court. After graduating from law school, advocates normally serve an apprenticeship with experienced lawyers for a number of years, and then tend to practice as sole practitioners or in small firms.

Lawyer documentary

Top 10 Reasons to Become a Lawyer

Courts

Trial by jury

 In criminal proceedings, the notion of being tried by a jury of ‘one’s peers’ is frequently regarded as an article of faith in the common law system. And certain civil law jurisdictions also employ juries to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused. In France, for example, the judges sit together with the jury, who are also involved in determining the sentence to be imposed. Jurisdictions differ in respect of the availability of juries. Some restrict them to criminal, and not civil, trials (e.g., France); others prescribe juries for trials of serious crimes (e.g., Canada); while in some countries (e.g., England and Wales) they are used in criminal cases and limited to a few specific civil cases (e.g., defamation). Most conspicuous are the jury trials in the United States, where juries are available for both civil and criminal proceedings. More than 60% of jury trials are criminal trials, the rest are civil and other trials such as family court proceedings.

Among the much-vaunted virtues of the jury trial is the extent to which it operates as a curb on the power and influence of the judge. By involving (usually 12) ordinary citizens in the administration of justice, it is argued, the values of the community may be expressed. A group of randomly selected lay persons, it is claimed, is a more democratic arbiter of guilt than a judge, who is perceived, rightly or wrongly, as an agent of the government.