The Treatment of Diversity in Family Law in Belgium : Between Acknowledment and Indifference

Dealing with diversity remains a challenging matter for Belgian family law. Claims based on cultural, religious and sexual differences come in different shapes depending on the context in which they arise. They are presented upfront, without any intermediation, when they are linked to a sexual minority. By contrast, demands and claims linked to cross-cultural cases come in through the mediation of other, technical rules. One seems to observe an evolution in opposite directions: on the one hand, claims by sexual minorities are accommodated, even triggering the adoption of statutory law; on the other hand, cross-cultural claims, which are, directly or indirectly linked to religion, are left to courts to deal with. This leads to a varied approach, with some courts adopting a rather ‘technical’ perspective on such cases, while other courts make some room for claims based on cultural, religious, sexual differences. This paper will attempt to verify this hypothesis.