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Difference between revisions of "The Court System for Family Matters"
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===Court proceedings=== | ===Court proceedings=== | ||
The Provincial Court has special rules just for family law proceedings. These are contained in the [https://canlii.ca/t/b8rn Provincial Court Family Rules]. | The Provincial Court has special rules just for family law proceedings. These are contained in the [https://canlii.ca/t/b8rn Provincial Court Family Rules]. These rules set out different procedures to follow depending on the type of registry that your court proceeding was filed in. This means that the rules can vary significantly depending on where you are in the province. Make sure you know which type of registry your family law matter is filed at. The types and locations are: | ||
* ''Early Resolution Registries'' These Provincial Court registries | * ''Early Resolution Registries'' (Currently, Victoria, Surrey and Port Coquitlam, although in April 2025, the registries in Abbotsford, Chilliwack and New Westminster will become Early Resolution Registries, followed by Vancouver (Robson), North Vancouver, Richmond, Sechelt and Pemberton in November 2025) These Provincial Court registries follow a fairly new kind of procedure that's designed to resolve cases without the need for going to court. The early resolution process in these registries is a much different procedure compared to traditional Provincial Court procedure. The good news is that many people will find the process more straight forward, less complex, and less adversarial. Before going to court, parties must: | ||
*# meet with a family justice counsellor and undergo a ''needs assessment'' to figure out what the parties need to do and what options and resources are available to them, | |||
*# attend consensual dispute resolution, and | |||
*# take a parenting course, such as the free online Parenting After Separation course. | |||
* ''Family Justice Registries'' (Kelowna, Nanaimo, and Vancouver (Robson Square)), which require parties to go through a family needs assessment at the very beginning. | * ''Family Justice Registries'' (Kelowna, Nanaimo, and Vancouver (Robson Square)), which require parties to go through a family needs assessment at the very beginning. | ||
* ''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]. | * ''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]. | ||