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September 10, 2009: Appeals to the Court of Appeal regarding the interjurisdictional abduction of children

Effective July 21, 2009, if an appeal to the Court of Appeal involves a situation where a child or children have been removed from their province or country of residence without the permission of another parent or guardian, either party can provide a letter to the court registry along with their Notice of Appeal/Application for Leave to Appeal or Notice of Appearance. The letter must advise the registrar that their appeal raises this issue and ask that the appeal be heard as soon as possible. The registrar will refer the matter to a judge of the Court of Appeal for a pre-hearing conference, which will be scheduled without delay. This conference may be held by teleconference if any of the parties or their lawyers live outside the Lower Mainland.

The goal of this pre-hearing conference will be to:

  • set a hearing date as soon as possible,
  • arrange for filing and format of necessary documents, and
  • to make any orders required to assist in deciding the matter.

The Court of Appeal will make every effort to schedule the hearing within 3 weeks of receiving the letter.

July 7, 2009: New Supreme Court Rules (family) to go into effect July 1, 2010

BC’s Attorney General has announced new Supreme Court Rules for family (and civil) cases that will come into effect by July 1, 2010. See March 2008 for more information about how these new rules were developed.

The new family rules will provide for (among other things):

  • a single set of rules for family cases, rather than rules that apply to both civil and family cases;
  • forms that are easier to understand and fill out;
  • plainer, more readable rules;
  • promotion of cooperation between parties;
  • minimization of conflict; and
  • ensuring that children's interests come first.

For more information about the changes, see the News Release and Backgrounder on the Ministry of Attorney General website. The new rules are available on the Ministry of Attorney General website.

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March 16, 2009: Changes to family law legal aid services

The Legal Services Society (LSS or the society) will be changing some of its family law legal aid services this year. These changes are necessary because the society’s current government and non-government revenues are insufficient to cover the current demand for legal aid. The changes will direct the society’s available funding and resources towards people in greatest need while having the least impact on current clients.

LSS provides three types of legal aid services: public legal information (websites, publications, telephone services, and community outreach), brief advice (duty counsel and LawLINE), and legal representation in court or before a tribunal (a lawyer for family matters). In the latter part of 2008, there was a significant increase in the demand for legal aid representation services. At the end of November 2008, referrals to lawyers for emergency family services were up 21 percent over budget. The society expects this increased demand to continue in the 2009/2010 fiscal year that begins on April 1.

Despite the increase in demand, government funding in 2009/2010 is expected to remain unchanged from last year except for a modest increase for large criminal cases. Non-government funding, however, is expected to decline. For more detailed information on funding, see the News releases on the LSS website.

Family and CFCSA (child protection/removal) services

1. Most services will remain unchanged

Since 2002, most family law legal aid representation services have been limited to financially eligible clients who are facing situations where their safety or the safety of their children is at risk; they have been denied access to their children on an ongoing basis; or there is a risk that a child will be permanently removed from the province. These and other urgent issues will continue to be available under our “emergency services” referrals. Child protection/removal services are unchanged.

2. Family duty counsel services will continue

The society recognizes the important role family duty counsel play in providing help to those who might not otherwise receive legal aid. LSS will give priority to maintaining existing duty counsel services as long as resources permit, and will provide an update on these services in future.

3. Dispute resolution services will be eliminated

Dispute resolution services were introduced in 2006 to expand family law coverage. These services are available to financially eligible clients with significant family law problems who do not qualify for legal aid representation because their cases do not raise safety concerns or qualify under any of the emergency services criteria. Dispute resolution services cover mediation and collaborative services, but not attendance in court. New applications for dispute resolution services will not be approved after March 31, 2009. Clients already approved for dispute resolution services will not be affected by this change. Approximately 600 people a year receive these services.

4. Extended family services will be reduced

Extended family services were introduced in 2005 to give lawyers extra time to complete cases. Lawyers may still apply for extended family services. LSS currently approves approximately 375 applications for extended services in emergency services cases. The number of cases approved for extra time will depend on the volume of requests received and the budget available for this service.

Questions, comments, and suggestions

LSS welcomes your feedback on legal aid services. Please direct any questions, comments, or suggestions to LSS-Services@lss.bc.ca.

January 20, 2009: Notice to Mediate (Family) Pilot Project expanded to Vancouver and New Westminster

Effective January 1, 2009, the Notice to Mediate (Family) pilot project introduced in Nanaimo was expanded to include the Vancouver and New Westminster registries of the Supreme Court. See November 1, 2007 and April 1, 2008, below, for more information about this project.

You can find information about the pilot in each location on the Ministry of Attorney General website.

For more information, see the Notice to Mediate (Family) Regulation (PDF) and the following information sheets about the family Notice to Mediate process.

April 1, 2008: Notice to Mediate (Family) Pilot Project expanded to Victoria and Duncan

Effective April 1, 2008, the Notice to Mediate (Family) pilot project introduced in Nanaimo was expanded to include the Victoria and Duncan Registries of the Supreme Court. See November 1, 2007, below, for more information about this project.

The Notice to Mediate (Family) Regulation, BC Reg. 296/2007 is posted on the Dispute Resolution Office website, along with the other Regulations.

You can find information about the pilot in each location on the Ministry of Attorney General website.

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March 2008: Draft revised Supreme Court Rules (family) now available online for review and feedback

In March 2007, the Ministry of Attorney General established a Family Rules Working Group (FRWG) to prepare draft court rules based on the recommendations contained in a report by the Family Justice Reform Working Group.

Although the FRWG started out to draft a single set of stand-alone family rules for both courts, that mandate shifted to drafting a separate set of family rules for Supreme Court. For more information about how the working group arrived at this decision and an introduction to the draft rules, see the Family Rules Concept Draft Guide (scroll to the bottom of the page to find the link).

The draft family rules have been posted on the BC Justice Review Forum website in PDF format (scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Family Rules Concept Draft”).

Consultation on the draft Family Rules has begun and will continue until the end of June. You are encouraged to provide feedback on the draft rules via an online forum set up for this purpose on the BC Justice Review Forum website by June 30, 2008.

November 1, 2007: New mediation pilot project for people with family law cases in Nanaimo Supreme Court

Effective November 1, 2007, a new pilot project in the Nanaimo Registry of the Supreme Court allows either party in a family law proceeding started under either the Family Relations Act or the Divorce Act in that registry to apply for mediation.

Either party can ask for a mediation session by delivering a document to the other party (called a Notice to Mediate) on or after November 1, 2007 (even if the case was started before November 1, 2007). The Notice to Mediate may be delivered to the other party no earlier than 90 days after the filing of the first Statement of Defence in the proceeding, and no later than 90 days before the trial date.

Once the Notice to Mediate is issued, the party being served with the notice must participate in mediation unless:

  • all parties have already had a mediation session on the issues in dispute;
  • one party has a family restraining order or peace bond against another party;
  • the mediator advises that mediation is not appropriate or would not be productive;
  • the court orders that one party is exempt from participating in the mediation process, because it would be impractical or unfair to require that party to attend; or
  • the parties agree in writing that one party does not have to participate in mediation, and the mediator confirms that in writing.

If one party applies for mediation and the other party refuses to cooperate, the court can order the refusing party to pay costs to the party who is applying for the mediation).

For more information about this pilot project, contact the Justice Access Centre in Nanaimo, or call LawLINE.

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August 2007: Review of the BC Family Relations Act underway

Listen to an audio clip about this issue.

Since February 2006, the Ministry of Attorney General has been reviewing the Family Relations Act. The aim is to modernize family law in BC and support co-operative approaches to resolving disputes around custody and support.

The first year of the review was devoted to research. Early in 2007, the ministry began posting discussion papers on its website and asking the public and lawyers to comment on its proposals. These papers have been grouped into three phases:

Phase I:

Phase II:

Phase III:

The comment period for the first set of papers has ended. The second set of papers can be commented on until September 7. The third set of papers can be commented on until December 15, 2007.

Note: The review does not address child welfare, adoption, child support, or divorce under the federal Divorce Act.

November 1, 2006: Legal Services Society to give more help to families

Legal Services Society (LSS) started providing more legal aid services for family clients in BC on November 1, 2006.

Legal aid services have been broadened to:

  • expand the role of family duty counsel lawyers to help clients prepare for family and judicial case conferences and to attend those sessions with clients (to begin this fall in Kamloops, Kelowna, Port Coquitlam, Prince George, Prince Rupert, Surrey, Terrace, Vancouver, and Victoria);
  • expand eligibility for legal aid by providing broader dispute resolution assistance to family clients who have significant custody, access, and financial security issues or who face barriers to resolving cases on their own; and
  • represent family clients in court when all other efforts to resolve their cases have failed and resolving the case will make a significant difference to the client or his or her children.

Legal representation services continue to be available for eligible clients in emergency situations (for example, if a client's and/or his or her children's safety is at risk, or if there is a serious denial of access, etc.)

For more information, see the LSS News Release (October 30, 2006) (PDF)

If you think you may be eligible for the new legal aid coverage, apply for legal aid and mention these new services to the intake staff person you see.

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August 2006: Supreme Court forms moved to a different website

The BC Supreme Court Rules forms (Appendix A) are no longer available on the Ministry of Attorney General, Court Services Branch website. Instead, users are automatically directed to the Queen's Printer website for copies of forms.

August 2006: New Court of Appeal guidebooks

The Court of Appeal has added two civil self-help guidebooks to its website:

How to Conduct an Appeal — Civil Cases

Responding to an Appeal — Civil Cases

The guides were prepared by the Law Courts Education Society of BC and are designed to provide information about dealing with the court system.

July 31, 2006: Child support payors must declare increased income

On Monday, July 31, 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that divorced and separated parents must report increases in their income when paying child support. In two out of four child support cases, the parent paying child support was ordered to pay retroactive support because of an unreported increase in income. The decision stated:

    “Because the child's right to support varies with changes in income, the child's entitlement to a change in support should not be limited to the date of the recipient parent's notice of an intention to enforce it. So long as the change in income warrants different child support from what is being paid, the presumptive starting point for the child's entitlement is when the change occurred, not when it was disclosed or discovered.”

For more information about this decision, see D.B.S. v. S.R.G. et al (2006 SCC 37).

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July 1, 2006: Amendments to the BC Supreme Court Rules — Judicial Case Conferences (Rule 60(E))

Effective July 1, 2006, some changes were made to procedures in BC Supreme Court for people having (either requesting or attending) a family Judicial Case Conference (JCC).

The changes to Rule 60(E) mean that everyone who attends a JCC must complete Parts 1 through 4 of the Financial Statement (Form 89), have it sworn or affirmed, serve it on the other party, and file it at the court registry, at least seven days before the date set for the JCC. This applies even to those people who were previously not required to complete this form (for example, recipients of child support applying to change only basic child support).

The form required to give notice of a JCC to the other party (Supreme Court Form 145 (Rule 60E(6)) — Requisition and Notice of Judicial Case Conference) has now been formally added to the Supreme Court list of forms. This form must now be served on the other party at least 30 days before the date set for the JCC.

June 1, 2006: Child Support Recalculation Service pilot project in Kelowna Provincial Court

On June 1, 2006, the Ministry of Attorney implemented a Child Support Recalculation Service Pilot Project (CSRS) in the Kelowna Provincial (Family) Court. CSRS is a child support service that will automatically recalculate child support amounts every year by applying the child support guidelines to updated income information. This new service will help parents keep their child support amounts current without going back to court, ensure that children get the support they are entitled to, and ensure that payors pay support that is appropriate for their income.

CSRS is mandatory for all Family Relations Act child support orders made on or after June 1, 2006 in the Kelowna Provincial (Family) Court. Under some limited circumstances, the service will not recalculate child support. Parents with written agreements may opt into the project.

CSRS accepts only income tax information as the source for up-to-date income information. If payors do not submit their income tax information as required, CSRS will automatically assume that their income has increased by 10 percent. Only recalculations that result in changes of $5 or more will lead to changes in the child support amount to be paid. Special or extraordinary expenses will not be recalculated.

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