Family Law Teachers’ Colloquium 2025

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The Family Law Teachers’ Colloquium 2025, hosted at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) by the School of Law, was held from 18-19 September at the Howard College campus in Durban.

The event brought together nearly 40 leading academics from a wide range of South African universities, along with judges, practitioners, and students.

The Colloquium provided a dynamic platform for discussion on cutting-edge developments in family law. The event was a resounding success, characterised by rich scholarly engagement, thought-provoking debates, and meaningful exchanges. The papers were of a uniformly high standard with excellent slides to assist with structure and illustrations.

Over 36 hours, six thematic sessions addressed a broad range of contemporary family law issues:

•    Session One: ‘Relocation and Child Abduction’ examined international child abduction under The Hague Convention, citizenship and children’s best interests, and the Children’s Act provisions on parental relocation. This set the stage for critical discussion on the intersection between international obligations and local jurisprudence.

•    Session Two: ‘Matrimonial Law’, chaired by retired Judge Belinda van Heerden, engaged with questions of enforcement, spousal maintenance, matrimonial property regimes, and artificial intelligence in family dispute resolution. 

•    Session Three: ‘Children’ focused on innovative perspectives on questioning techniques for children with disabilities in South African courts. Other contributions analysed parenthood in third-party reproduction, children’s constitutional rights, and family dynamics in diverse cultural contexts.

•    Session Four: ‘Constitutional Family Law, Death Benefits, and the Practitioner’
addressed constitutional challenges and the role of practitioners. Topics included the distribution of death benefits to spouses and life partners, to plural legal systems and their tensions with constitutional norms.

•    Session Five: ‘Plural Legal Systems, Parents, Comparative Law, Maintenance, and Child Abuse’ offered comparative insights into Japanese family law, unregistered Muslim personal law marriages, and assisted conception.

•    Session Six: ‘Maintenance, Child Abuse, and Ubuntu’ included reflections on enforcement of maintenance orders, safeguarding against child abuse, and the influence of Ubuntu in shaping an African-centred approach to family law reform.

The interdisciplinary nature of the discussions enabled robust dialogue, integrating constitutional, customary, and comparative perspectives, with a strong focus on child-centred approaches. The participation of judges, senior academics, and emerging scholars enriched the event, underscoring the value of collaborative knowledge production. Online participation via Zoom extended accessibility and reach, while the informal conference dinner fostered valuable networking among delegates.

The Family Law Teachers’ Colloquium 2025 showcased the vibrancy of family law scholarship in South Africa and beyond reaffirming UKZN’s role as a leading institution for critical debates on law, policy, and social justice. It also highlighted the strength of research by UKZN academics in family law, children’s rights, and disability law. The insights generated are expected to influence teaching, research, and practice - ensuring the continued evolution of family law in ways that reflect the lived realities of families locally and globally. The event also featured in a radio broadcast that highlighted key debates and future research avenues in South Africa.

The co-ordination of the Colloquium was championed by UKZN’s Family Law expert, Professor Brigitte Clark. Professor Freddy Mnyongani, Dean and Head of the UKZN School of Law, extended his heartfelt congratulations to Clark, the organising team, all presenters, and attendees, highlighting that their dedication reinforces UKZN’s commitment to scholarship that matters - to communities, to policy, and to justice.

Words: NdabaOnline

Photographs: Hesper Media