Following India’s supreme court decision on same-sex marriage, from the University of Portsmouth, is available for media interview and comment.
Professor Shubhankar Dam is Professor of Public Law and Governance at the University of Portsmouth School of Law. He is the author of Presidential Legislation in India: The Law and Practice of Ordinances (Cambridge University Press, New York, 2014, paperback, 2015). In January 2017, the Supreme Court of India extensively relied on the book to overturn long-settled constitutional doctrines in India, and make executive power more amenable to judicial scrutiny.
His current works include a series of articles on the Supreme Court of India using empirical legal studies (law and economics approach), and monographs on executive legislation in parliamentary and presidential systems.
In addition, frequently writes on issues relating to law and governance in India, and his commentaries and op-eds have appeared in Qz.com, Scroll, Economic Times, Hindu, Indian Express, Express Tribune, Friday Times, Week and Â鶹´«Ã½week among others.
Professor Dam said: “A bench of five judges heard 50 lawyers and authored roughly 500,000 words to agree on one conclusion: there is no fundamental right to marriage in India. Only Parliament can decide who can marry whom.
“The decision feels like a setback for LGBT rights in India. But it isn't necessarily so. All five judges agreed that LGBT persons "deserve" equality in matrimonial matters. But they disagreed on how this equality should be brought about. The majority led by the Chief Justice directed the government to summon a review and implement changes. The minority suggested the government do similar things.
“This disagreement - and the court's inability to distill a right and order effective remedies - reflects its institutional limitations.”
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