THE ADVOCATE 245
VOL. 80 PART 2 MARCH 2022
THE ATTORNEY
GE NERAL’S PAGE
By the Honourable David Eby, Q.C.*
SUPPORTING FAMILIES THROUGH BRITISH COLUMBIA’S JUSTICE SYSTEM
In an effort to support families seeking to resolve their Family Law Act matters
in Provincial Court, the Ministry of Attorney General in partnership
with the B.C. Provincial Court launched a prototype of the Early Resolution
and Case Management Model in May 2019. The final evaluation has been
completed, and I would like to share some of the findings with you about
the prototype located in Victoria.
For those participating in the process, nearly seventy per cent of families
seeking assistance with parenting arrangements, guardianship and support
avoided court altogether. Total court appearances (which include family law
matters but also cases that are not diverted into the early resolution services)
dropped in Victoria by fifty-three per cent. In comparison, court
appearances dropped by only twelve per cent in Nanaimo and increased
slightly in Kamloops by three per cent. The average number of appearances
per case also dropped more substantially in Victoria than in Kamloops or
Nanaimo.
The evaluation analyzed data from several sources, including interviews
with parties and stakeholders, Court and Family Justice Services data, comparison
with two non–early resolution locations (Nanaimo and Kamloops)
and analysis of linked data following a subset of families through the system
for 12–17 months.
Provincial Court Chief Judge Melissa Gillespie has indicated that this
reduction in the number of Family Law Act appearances frees up court time
to deal with family law files in a timelier way, and also means more time
available for hearings in other proceedings such as criminal files or those
related to the Child, Family and Community Service Act.
* The Honourable David Eby, Q.C., is British Columbia’s Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Housing.