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Difference between revisions of "The Court System for Family Matters"
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The Court System for Family Matters (view source)
Revision as of 19:42, 12 August 2022
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*moving away, with or without a child. | *moving away, with or without a child. | ||
===Court proceedings=== | ===Court proceedings=== | ||
The Provincial Court has special rules just for family law proceedings, the [http://canlii.ca/t/ | The Provincial Court has special rules just for family law proceedings, the [http://canlii.ca/t/b8rn Provincial Court Family Rules]. Within these rules, there are also different procedures to follow depending on the type of registry, and this means the rules can vary significantly depending where you are. It's important to know which type of registry your family law matter is filed at. The types and locations are: | ||
* ''Early Resolution Registries'' (Victoria and Surrey), which follow a much different process (including what forms to use) from the other registries — luckily this is well explained on the [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/4843 BC Ministry of Attorney General's website], and discussed generally in the [[Starting a Court Proceeding in a Family Matter]] section of the [[Resolving Family Law Problems in Court]] chapter. | |||
* ''Family Justice Registries'' (Kelowna, Nanaimo, and Vancouver (Robson Square)), which require parties to go through a family needs assessment at the very beginning, and are also discussed in the [[Starting a Court Proceeding in a Family Matter]] section. | |||
* ''Parenting Education Program Registries'', are the default type of registry found in the remaining registry locations of the Provincial Court. Unless you’re in Kelowna, Nanaimo, Surrey, Vancouver, or Victoria, this will be the registry type you'll deal with. (If your matter is in Kamloops, and it looks like it's going to trial, you might need to learn about that registry's new ''Informal Family Court Trials'' pilot, which is explained on the [https://www.provincialcourt.bc.ca/enews/enews-16-05-2022 Provincial Court's website], and on [https://family.legalaid.bc.ca/bc-legal-system/if-you-have-go-court/informal-trials-kamloops-court-registry Legal Aid BC's Family Law website]. | |||
Regardless of which type of Provincial Court registry is handling your family law matter, it's important that you read and understand the Provincial Court Family Rules. The rules say how every aspect of a Provincial Court case is run, from starting a court proceeding to scheduling a trial. They set out important deadlines and limitations, and say what court forms must be used for which purpose. You also need to have a look at the [https://www.provincialcourt.bc.ca/types-of-cases/family-matters/chief-judge-practice-directions Practice Directions] issued by the Chief Judge, which clarify certain aspects of the rules of court and describe additional processes and procedures. | |||
====Provincial Court procedure based on location of registry==== | ====Provincial Court procedure based on location of registry==== | ||
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The person who starts a proceeding in the Provincial Court is the ''applicant''. The person against whom the court proceeding is brought is the ''respondent''. | The person who starts a proceeding in the Provincial Court is the ''applicant''. The person against whom the court proceeding is brought is the ''respondent''. | ||
An applicant starts by filing a form, although a different form is needed for ''[[Early Resolution Registries of BC Provincial Court]]'' than in other Provincial Court registry locations. | An applicant starts by filing a form, although a different form is needed for ''[[Early Resolution Registries of BC Provincial Court]]'' than in other Provincial Court registry locations. To read more about the Early Resolution process in Victoria and Surrey see the [https://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/resource/4843 BC Ministry of Attorney General's website], which also makes available a brochure with a simplified process map. The procedures explained below do not apply to the Early Resolution Registries. | ||
In most Provincial Court registries, however, you start by filing an Application About a Family Law Matter in [[PCFR Form 3 Application About a Family Law Matter|Form 3]] and then serving it on each person named as a respondent. The form must be ''personally served'' on the respondent by an adult other than the applicant — you can't do it yourself. The respondent has 30 days to answer the claim by filing a Reply to an Application About a Family Law Matter in [[PCFR Form 6 Reply to an Application About a Family Law Matter|Form 6]] at the court registry. The court clerk will send a copy of the Reply to the applicant. The Reply can also be used to make a ''counterclaim'', the respondent's own claim against the applicant. A respondent who does not file a Reply to an Application About a Family Law Matter is not entitled to notice of further hearings in the case! | |||
After the proceeding has been started, registry locations usually require the parties (if there is a matter involving children) to attend a ''parenting after separation course'', and the Family Justice Registries further require the parties to meet with a ''family justice counsellor'' for a family needs assessment before they can go to see a judge. Family justice counsellors are government employees trained in mediation who can help with issues about the care of children, child support, and spousal support. | |||
The parties' first appearance before a judge is normally at a ''family management conference'', where the judge (or a family justice manager, but we'll just refer to the judge for simplicity's sake) will see if the parties can resolve their issues early on. A family management conference is a private meeting between the parties, their lawyers — if they have lawyers — and the judge. In general, a judge will not make orders at a family management conference except with the parties' agreement, but the judge can direct the parties to hold another family management conference, or to go to a family settlement conference, if the first meeting ends before a resolution is agreed to. All of these early conferences can be very helpful as they provide a great opportunity to talk about the legal issues and explore potential areas of compromise. There's more information about family case conferences and family settlement conferences in the chapter [[Resolving Family Law Problems in Court]] in the section on [[Case Conferences in a Family Law Matter]]. | |||
After the family management conference, ''interim applications'' — applications for temporary orders — can be made formally, triggering another hearing. More is explained in the chapter [[Resolving Family Law Problems in Court]] in the section on [[Interim Applications in Family Matters]]. It | |||
If the legal issues in the court proceeding aren't settled, there will be a ''trial''. At the trial, each side will present their evidence and their arguments, and the judge will make a decision about the legal issues, called a ''judgment.'' The judgment will describe not only the judge's ''final orders'' on the legal issues, but the judge's decisions about the facts of the case and the law that applies to the case. | If the legal issues in the court proceeding aren't settled, there will be a ''trial''. At the trial, each side will present their evidence and their arguments, and the judge will make a decision about the legal issues, called a ''judgment.'' The judgment will describe not only the judge's ''final orders'' on the legal issues, but the judge's decisions about the facts of the case and the law that applies to the case. | ||
Applications to ''change final orders'' are | Applications to ''change final orders'' are discussed in the chapter [[Resolving Family Law Problems in Court]] in the section on [[Changing Orders in Family Matters]]. | ||
====Addressing the court==== | ====Addressing the court==== | ||