Justice Reform Initiatives ~ Early Solutions, Faster Justice
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Family Justice Reform
Unified Family Court
In B.C., there are two separate, but parallel courts that deal with family justice matters. The BC Supreme Court, which is federally funded, and the Provincial Court of BC, which is provincially funded, have overlapping jurisdiction and services.
As this can be confusing, having a single court for family matters, called a unified family court has been recommended by the Family Justice Reform Working Group if:
- it could be adequately resourced, and
- it could be at least as accessible (particularly geographically) and responsive to the range of family clients as the current system.
For information on these recommendations, see:
For historical reasons, rooted in Canada's constitutional structure and federal/provincial funding arrangements, the move to a unified family court has proven complicated.
After meeting with federal officials, the Ministry of Attorney General has concluded these conditions cannot be met within the federal government's current approach to funding unified family courts.
Given this, the Family Justice Reform Working Group recommended an alternative, the co-ordinated jurisdiction approach. |
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