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Archive: 2017 (8 Posts)

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What’s in a[n Israeli] name?

Posted by: Ruth Levush

Several In Custodia Legis team members have previously written about regulation of naming in a variety of countries, including Germany; Iceland ; New Zealand; Sweden; and Taiwan. I thought it would be interesting to see how Israel, my primary research jurisdiction, regulates names. The Most Popular Israeli Names (Good to Know Ruth is not Completely Outdated) Checking …

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Matrimonial Relations: European Law and Religious Communities

Posted by: Ruth Levush

A couple of years ago, I attended two separate marriage ceremonies for the same couple. The couple, now happily married, consisted of a Jewish American-Israeli dual national and a British national of Indian Hindu descent. The Hindu wedding that took place in the United Kingdom was fascinating for me; it being the first, and so far …

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Religious Matrimonial Laws in Selected Middle East and African Countries

Posted by: Ruth Levush

I previously blogged about Jewish religious law that governs marriages and divorces of Jews in Israel. I also blogged about Jewish divorces in other countries. This time I asked my colleagues in the Global Legal Research Directorate for examples of countries that recognize the application of religious matrimonial laws. In this blog post I will highlight whether and the …

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An Interview with Nezihe Fazilet, Law Library Foreign Law Consultant

Posted by: Ruth Levush

Today’s interview is with Nezihe Fazilet. Nezihe is a Law Library foreign law consultant in the Global Legal Research Directorate at the Law Library of Congress. Describe your background I was born in Kayseri, Turkey into a traditional Turkish family and lived there until I graduated from high school. Then my family moved to Ankara, the capital …

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FALQs: Name Day Celebrations in Sweden

Posted by: Ruth Levush

The following is a guest post by Elin Hofverberg, a foreign law research consultant covering Scandinavian jurisdictions at the Law Library of Congress. Elin is a frequent contributor to In Custodia Legis on diverse topics, including The Masquerade King and the Regulation of Dancing in Sweden, The Trade Embargo Behind the Swedish Jokkmokk Sami Market, 250 Years of Press …

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Releasing Agunot from the Chains of Marriage in Selected Countries

Posted by: Ruth Levush

Last week I blogged about Israeli legislative and judicial efforts to assist Jewish women who cannot divorce their husbands (עגונות, agunot,  literally “chained”; עגונה, agunah in singular). In accordance with Jewish law, which applies to matters of marriage and divorce of Jewish residents and citizens of Israel, a valid divorce requires the consensual delivery by the husband and receipt …

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Releasing Israeli Agunot from the Chains of Marriage

Posted by: Ruth Levush

In the movie Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem, the late actress Ronit Elkabetz plays Vivian Amsalem, an Israeli woman who wishes to divorce her husband because she does not love him anymore. Without his consent to deliver a get (גט, a Jewish writ of divorce) to her however, her marriage cannot be dissolved and she is …

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Elor Azaria and Alexander Blackman: Adjudication of Unlawful Military Shootings

Posted by: Ruth Levush

What impact do prolonged periods of stress and fear have on a soldier’s behavior? Do the horrors of war and terrorist acts justify conduct that would otherwise be unlawful? While such circumstances do not seem to amount to justification for violating the law, it is notable that “exceptional stressors” and constant threats faced by soldiers were recently considered …