Issue No. 11 - Supporting Survivors through Court Reform: Assessing the Role of Integrated and Specialized Courts for Family Law in British Columbia
August 2021
In British Columbia, one family can face multiple proceedings at a time in family, criminal and child protection courts, which have largely operated in silos (Birnbaum et al, 2014; Federal-ProvincialTerritorial (FPT) Ad Hoc Working Group on Family Violence, 2013; Martinson & Jackson, 2016; Martinson & Jackson, 2017). The lack of coordination across multiple court systems can create various issues for parties involved, especially in family violence cases. Some issues include inconsistent orders that leave gaps in protection (Birnbaum et al, 2014; Croll, 2015; Koshan, 2018; Martinson & Jackson, 2016), a lack of a fulsome view of the case during decision-making (Martinson & Jackson, 2017), re-traumatizing experiences for survivors who must repeat their stories to multiple judges (Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) Ad Hoc Working Group on Family Violence, 2013; Koshan, 2018; Martinson & Jackson, 2016), and many more, which will be explored in this brief. Integrated and specialized courts have shown promise in addressing these issues.
Please, see the brief below for more information.
