Comparing the Views of Judges and Lawyers Practicing in Alberta and in the Rest of Canada on Selected Issues in Family Law: Parenting, Self-represented Litigants and Mediation
Date
2016-04-01
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family.
Abstract
This report examines the results of our survey of attendees of the National Family Law Program 2014, and compares the views of Alberta respondents with those from the rest of Canada on a number of issues, including parenting after separation, self-represented litigants and their access to justice, and mediation. The report notes some striking differences between the views and experiences of Alberta practitioners and those from elsewhere in Canada. Alberta practitioners are more likely to: have cases resulting in shared custody or shared parenting; support the amendment of the Divorce Act to use terms such as parenting responsibilities and parenting time; have cases involving self-represented litigants; support mandatory information programs for self-represented litigants; and, support the use of paralegals to improve access to justice for self-represented litigants.
Description
Keywords
law, family law
Citation
Bertrand, L.D., & Boyd, J.-P. E. (2016). Comparing the Views of Judges and Lawyers Practicing in Alberta and in the Rest of Canada on Selected Issues in Family Law: Parenting, Self-represented Litigants and Mediation. Calgary, AB: Canadian Research Institutue for Law and the Family