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Oregon's Informal Domestic Relations Trial: A New Tool to Efficiently and Fairly Manage Family Court Trials
Author(s) -
Howe William J.,
Hall Jeffrey E.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
family court review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.171
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 1744-1617
pISSN - 1531-2445
DOI - 10.1111/fcre.12263
Subject(s) - jurisdiction , law , process (computing) , trial court , political science , business , psychology , supreme court , computer science , operating system
The Informal Domestic Relations Trial (IDRT) process adopted by the Deschutes County, Oregon, Circuit Court is described, evaluated, and compared to simplified family law procedural rules of other jurisdictions. The IDRT process has been created by local court rule, and will soon be adopted statewide in Oregon. The IDRT rule allows parties to choose a simplified trial or hearing format where the parties speak directly to the judge with no direct or cross‐examination, nonparty witnesses are limited to experts, the traditional rules of evidence are waived, and all exhibits offered by the parties are admitted. IDRT cases are typically docketed more quickly than traditional trials; last just a couple of hours; and decisions are rendered promptly, usually the day of the hearing or trial. The court retains jurisdiction to modify the process as fairness requires and to divert cases where domestic violence or other reasons render IDRT inappropriate.