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“This Isn’T Justice”: Abused Women Navigate Family Law In Greater Vancouver, Wendy Chan, Rebecca Lennox
“This Isn’T Justice”: Abused Women Navigate Family Law In Greater Vancouver, Wendy Chan, Rebecca Lennox
Canadian Journal of Family Law
With the implementation of the Family Law Act in 2013, the family legal system in British Columbia saw a series of progressive reforms. These include the recognition of emotional, psychological, and financial control as family violence, a new protection order process to replace the limited restraining orders formerly available to abuse victims, a mandate that courts consider how exposure to family violence impacts children, and minimum mandatory training standards for family dispute resolution professionals. While there has been a great deal of legal commentary on these new provisions, there is a paucity of scholarly research documenting the experiences of frontline …
The Intersection Of Child Protection And Family Law Systems In Cases Of Domestic Violence, Wanda Wiegers
The Intersection Of Child Protection And Family Law Systems In Cases Of Domestic Violence, Wanda Wiegers
Canadian Journal of Family Law
Both the child protection and the family law systems are intended to promote the best interests of children, and both can profoundly affect the relationships between children and their parents or caregivers. Over the past two decades, both systems have also accorded more weight in the assessment of best interests to how exposure to domestic violence can harm or place children at risk. However, these systems have evolved differently, are governed by different statutes, and are administered in different ways. Child protection proceedings purport to have primarily a protective function and invariably involve a public agency, while family law proceedings, …
Domestic Violence, Precarious Immigration Status, And The Complex Interplay Of Family Law And Immigration Law, Janet Mosher
Domestic Violence, Precarious Immigration Status, And The Complex Interplay Of Family Law And Immigration Law, Janet Mosher
Canadian Journal of Family Law
Survivors of domestic violence must frequently navigate multiple legal processes, as well as the various administrative systems that provide crucial supports and resources. For women with precarious immigration status, navigation is made all the more challenging not only because immigration and/or refugee law processes are added to the array of legal domains to be navigated, but because their access to supports and resources is both restrictive and in flux, shifting along with the changes in their immigration status.
Drawing from interviews with experienced lawyers and case law searches, I explore many of the intersections between family law and immigration law …
Challenging Myths And Stereotypes In Domestic Violence Cases, Jennifer Koshan
Challenging Myths And Stereotypes In Domestic Violence Cases, Jennifer Koshan
Canadian Journal of Family Law
Survivors of domestic violence, who are disproportionately women, face numerous myths and stereotypes about the veracity, nature, and extent of violence they and their children experience. In legal disputes, they encounter allegations that they have lied about or exaggerated domestic violence out of vengeance, jealousy, or to gain an advantage in family law proceedings; that their partners are victims too; that abuse ends at separation or is irrelevant unless it is physical; and that it has no impact on children or only matters if it does. Although scholars and activists have revealed how these allegations are tainted by false and …
Mediator Discretion In Cases Involving Intimate Partner Violence, Michaela Keet, Jeff Edgar
Mediator Discretion In Cases Involving Intimate Partner Violence, Michaela Keet, Jeff Edgar
Canadian Journal of Family Law
Mediation is a centerpiece in the ‘agreement culture’ around family law litigation. It is recognized by the courts as offering inherent protections to deal with challenging cases such as those involving intimate partner violence. To learn more about how mediators invoke and view the process’s protections, we conducted a series of interviews with senior mediators, trainers, and policymakers in the field. This article synthesizes current views within the mediation field about how to identify and screen for IPV, and implications for process management. At the heart of these interviews was the theme of mediator discretion: mediators describe and value discretion …
Preventive Justice? Domestic Violence Protection Orders And Their Intersections With Family And Other Laws And Legal Systems, Jennifer Koshan
Preventive Justice? Domestic Violence Protection Orders And Their Intersections With Family And Other Laws And Legal Systems, Jennifer Koshan
Canadian Journal of Family Law
Civil protection order legislation is a distinctive response to domestic violence with its focus on immediate safety and access to justice. Although the legislation was motivated by the need to broaden protective remedies for domestic violence and make them more accessible, similar remedies continue to exist and be utilized in the family law arena—for example, exclusive possession orders for the family home and restraining orders related to family disputes. Some jurisdictions also allow civil protection orders to contain conditions relevant to family law disputes, such as interim parenting orders. Intersections, overlaps and potential conflicts also exist between civil protection order …
Bill C-92: A Catalyst For Change In The Ycja, René Allain
Bill C-92: A Catalyst For Change In The Ycja, René Allain
Canadian Journal of Family Law
This paper examines Bill C-92, An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Metis children, youth and families (2019) (C-92), and how some of its principles should inform a redrafting of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (2002) (YCJA or the Act) to address the over-incarceration of Indigenous youth. Erasing the effects of centuries of racist and genocidal policies is a herculean process that will take several generations. Disrupting this status quo must begin by allowing children an opportunity to learn and prosper within their communities. Although trite, the maxim “children are our future” holds particularly true for Indigenous Nations in Canada.
Children’S Place And Voice In Quebec’S Child Protection Proceedings, Mona Paré, Émilie De Bellefeuille
Children’S Place And Voice In Quebec’S Child Protection Proceedings, Mona Paré, Émilie De Bellefeuille
Canadian Journal of Family Law
This article explores children’s participation and their right to be heard in Quebec’s child protection proceedings. While children’s participation rights are well protected in international and domestic legal instruments, they have received little attention in relation to child protection. This article aims to fill a gap in the legal literature by reporting on the results of an empirical research project examining children’s participation in judicial child protection procedures in Quebec. The participation of judges, social workers, and children in this research sheds light on practice that is clearly inspired by the Quebec’s rights- advancing Youth Protection Act (YPA) …
Hong Kong's Children Proceedings (Parental Responsibility) Bill: Comparative Family Law Reform And Multidisciplinary Collaboration, Katherine Lynch
Hong Kong's Children Proceedings (Parental Responsibility) Bill: Comparative Family Law Reform And Multidisciplinary Collaboration, Katherine Lynch
Canadian Journal of Family Law
Many comprehensive reviews of family justice systems have been undertaken in common law jurisdictions over the past 20 years, all seeking to provide more meaningful affordable access to justice for families and children. Hong Kong is also under pressure to enact legislative reforms originally proposed in 2002-2005 which deal with children’s matters and more broadly, with family and matrimonial issues. Legislative reform was anticipated when the Government announced the long awaited Children’s Proceedings (Parental Responsibility) Bill (“Children’s Bill”) in 2015. After significant public consultation, however, the Government announced in 2018 that it would delay implementation of this draft legislation. Unfortunately, …
In Memoriam: The Canadian Research Institute For Law And The Family, 1987–2018, John-Paul E. Boyd
In Memoriam: The Canadian Research Institute For Law And The Family, 1987–2018, John-Paul E. Boyd
Canadian Journal of Family Law
No abstract provided.
All Families Are Equal, But Do Some Matter More Than Others? How Gender, Poverty, And Domestic Violence Put Quebec's Family Law Reform To The Test, Suzanne Zaccour
All Families Are Equal, But Do Some Matter More Than Others? How Gender, Poverty, And Domestic Violence Put Quebec's Family Law Reform To The Test, Suzanne Zaccour
Canadian Journal of Family Law
Who needs family law? While it is tempting to answer “everyone”, the stakes are not the same for all. I propose to evaluate family law rules in terms of how they address high-stakes situations—that is, the condition of vulnerable women. Thus, the test of good family law should be how well it deals with poverty and domestic violence, factors that directly constrain women’s ability to negotiate fair outcomes.
To explore this method, I take the example of a recent proposal, developed by Alain Roy’s reform committee (the “Comité consultatif sur le droit de la famille”), and regarding which the Quebec …
Establishing Canada's First Integrated Domestic Violence Court: Exploring Process, Outcomes, And Lessons Learned, Rachel Birnbaum, Nicholas Bala, Peter Jaffe
Establishing Canada's First Integrated Domestic Violence Court: Exploring Process, Outcomes, And Lessons Learned, Rachel Birnbaum, Nicholas Bala, Peter Jaffe
Canadian Journal of Family Law
The establishment of domestic violence courts has resulted in significant improvements in responses to family violence, but these courts have generally dealt only with criminal cases and do not address the risks that the victim and children may face in family proceedings. In some locations in the USA, courts have been established to deal with both criminal and family proceedings that arise from a domestic violence situation. This paper describes and analyzes the establishment of the first court in Canada that hears both criminal and family cases concerning families where there are domestic violence issues. The authors report on a …