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Marilyn Freeman was called to the English Bar (Middle Temple) in 1986 after completing her LL.M at Kings College, London. She then spent time in practice at the Bar, raising a family, and teaching Law. She joined London Metropolitan University in 1992 becoming Professor of Family Law there before being appointed Principal Research Fellow at The University of Westminster in 2015. Marilyn is Chairperson of the International Association of Child Law Researchers (IACLaR), an Associate Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers, and a long-term Associate Member of 4PB.
Marilyn gained her doctorate in international child abduction in 2006 and is widely acknowledged as a leading expert in this field as well as in broader international children’s issues. Her research, some supported by government departments, includes projects in the fields of international child abduction, relocation, forced marriage, child participation, and identity. She is regularly invited to address and participate in national and international conferences and meetings on these topics. This long-term involvement with families in dispute has resulted in Marilyn’s deep concern for those affected. This has led to Marilyn qualifying as a Family Mediator able to undertake Cross-Border Family Mediations and direct consultations with children. Her continued efforts to support and improve the relevant law and practice which govern these disputes has resulted in her convening a series of high-profile Experts’ Meetings for key international, interdisciplinary specialists working in the field of international child abduction and related areas. She publishes extensively on her research topics, most recently on the issue of identity and selfhood: Children’s Right to Identity, Selfhood and International Family Law (Edward Elgar, 2025)
Marilyn is Co-Director of The International Centre for Family Law, Policy and Practice (ICFLPP) which, since its estalishment in 2009, has held a group of very successful multi-disciplinary international conferences:
2010 ‘International Child Abduction, Forced Marriage and Relocation’;
2013 ‘Parentage, Equality and Gender’;
2016 ‘Culture, Dispute Resolution and the Modernised Family’;
2019 ‘Gender, Inclusivity and Protecting the 21st Century Family’;
Baroness Hale of Richmond, former President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is ICFLPP’s very active Patron