A proposal was developed, with the following
key features:

» Amalgamate the Ministry of Attorney
General's initiatives in mediation, family
justice centres, Child Support Guidelines and
parent education;

a Make these initiatives available and accessible
to parents engaged in litigation before the
coutt; and

» Produce court-ordered custody and access
reports*> only when a trial was imminent and
other dispute resolution options failed.

Second, more provincial court options for
resolving family disputes and new Provincial
Court (Family) Rules came into effect. These
developments occurred as a result of the chief
judge’s report, and collaboration involving the
Dispute Resolution Office, Family Justice
Services Division and Office of the Chief
Justice of the Provincial Court.

The objective of the new rules was to improve
the flow and reduce the cost of Family Relations
Alct cases in provincial court. These rules
supported an integrated model that
incorporated alternative dispute resolution,
child support clerks, parent education, judicial
mediation and case management.

Under the new court rules, judges could
mediate disputes and make referrals to
community-based resources. While the family
justice reform project focused on getting family
disputes out of the court process, the rules
integrated mediation and other alternative
dispute resolution options with the courts. As a
result, dispute resolution was made available
throughout the family court process.

Family justice registry project (Rule 5)

In response to the chief judge’s report, a pilot
project was established in consultation with
provincial court judges, the Dispute Resolution
Office, and other partners with the Ministry of
Attorney General.

In six provincial court registries, litigants were
informed of their options for settlement in an
attempt to resolve family disputes prior to
courts setting a trial date. Because it was
interested in exploring options to make family
justice services more accessible and affordable,
the federal government provided funding.

The purpose of the pilot project was to test
Rule 5 of the Provincial Court (Family) Rules. Rule
5 required parties in non-urgent cases, who had
a dispute in custody, access or maintenance, to
meet with a family justice counsellor. The
family justice counsellor provided information
on available services,*’ such as parenting after
separation programs, mediation, and assistance
from child support clerks. Referrals could be
made to any of these services ot to a provincial
coutt judge. The family justice counsellor could
also provide ADR services or refer patents to a
ptivate mediator.

The pilot offered early intervention by a family
justice counsellor, dispute resolution options
and parenting after separation workshops.
Trials were set only for cases that were
unsuitable for alternative dispute resolution, or
when alternative methods did not achieve
settlement.

When referred to a provincial court judge, the
parties could be directed to a family case

45 Section 15, Family Relations Act.

46 CorrTech Quarterly, Corrections Branch, Fall 2001, pp. 4-6.
47 Information was provided on both court-based and community-based programs and services.

The Era of Directing Change (1997-2001)

261