Vice-deans from the Faculty of Law, Montserrat Gas and Maria Fernández Arrojo participated as speakers at the 2nd Interdisciplinary Event on the Study of the Legal Anthropology of the Family: Parental Authority.  Restrictions or children's rights? It was held at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. (Rome).  The paper they presented was entitled “Filiation in European legislation: limitations and prospects for development”, and covered the legal institution of filiation in European legislation, and the way this could evolve over the next few years.

Gas, who is also director of the Institute of Advanced Family Studies at UIC Barcelona, and Fernandez, who is also a lecturer in Civil Law, tackled the new challenges set out by the so-called third generation's right to filiation, that has arisen due to the appearance of assisted reproduction techniques.  

As they explained, filiation has become an institution constructed “following the image of nature” since it is the result of the will or desire of adults.  This new concept presents many challenges due to the fact it collides with the rights of minors, and, especially, the right everyone has to know the identity of their parents, according to the two experts.  

The event, organised by the Centre for Legal Studies on the Family at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, included participation from specialists in various disciplines such as for example philosophy, theology, psychology, psychiatry and law.  The aim of this event was to set out the problems affecting the family from a plural, interdisciplinary perspective, in order to achieve a comprehensive overview and seek joint solutions through contributions from various scientific areas.