by M Jerry McHale, QC, Chair

In June 2005, the Justice Review Task Force (“JRTF”) released the report of the Family Justice Reform Working Group recommending future directions for family law in B.C. The Report, A New Justice System for Families and Children, is available on the JRTF website at: http://www.bcjusticereview.org/working_groups/family_justice/family_justice.asp.

The report’s 37 recommendations address the basic structure and values of the family justice system. A general theme is the need for an even more fundamentally non-adversarial approach to the management and resolution of conflict arising on family breakdown. The report suggests that as many family cases as possible should be resolved outside the courtroom, and collaborative processes with support services should be widely available to address the underlying emotional issues that actually drive family conflict.

The report also makes recommendations with respect to enhanced information and advice at the “front-end” of the family justice system, as well as for mediation, expanded family services, simplified forms, streamlined procedures, a more informal hearing model and Unified Family Courts.

Since the release of the report, efforts have been made to distribute it as widely as possible and to consult with the legal community and the public. At least 15 consultation meetings have been held, including meetings with most Canadian Bar Association alternate dispute resolution and family sections in the province. The report has also been presented to and discussed with groups as diverse as the federal Department of Justice, municipal officials and Family Court Committees in the Lower Mainland. A high-level overview of the report was also provided at two CLE conferences.

Generally, the feedback on the report to date has been very positive, though one family law section did say that there are several reasons for concern with the report. The Attorney General has endorsed the general policy principles behind the report.

In order to better understand the implications of the recommendations, research has been initiated respecting:

• creation of Family Justice Information Hubs. Hubs would serve as an accessible front door to the family justice system; they would provide information, assessment and referral for family members and would also serve to coordinate community services for separating families.
• viability of a single set of streamlined family rules for both courts.
• better data about the progress of cases through the justice system and about the impacts of family breakdown on the social system.
• models for a Unified Family Court.
• feasibility of a family justice information web portal to enhance public access to family law web sites.
• requiring a consensual dispute resolution.
• session before taking a first contested step in a court process.

As well, a general review of the Family Relations Act has recently been announced. See www.ag.gov.bc.ca/justice-services.

The priority at this point is to collect responses to the report and to understand in more detail how some of the report’s recommendations would play out if implemented. No major recommendations will be implemented without prior consultation with all interested stakeholders.

This article was published in the April 2006 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2006, all rights reserved.