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THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN CANADIAN FAMILY LAW PROCEDURE
Author(s) -
Thompson D. A. Rollie
Publication year - 2003
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/j.174-1617.2003.tb00882.x
Subject(s) - legislature , family law , law , equity (law) , government (linguistics) , political science , common law , substantive law , civil procedure , civil law (civil law) , public law , philosophy , linguistics
“Family law procedure” differs greatly from “civil procedure.” Canadian jurisdictions and common‐law jurisdictions have copied English reforms of merging law and equity. Canada unlike the United States confined legislative authority over divorce to the federal government under the British North American Act. The Canadian federal government enacted the national Divorce Act of 1968, which had a homogenizing effect on substantive family law across Canada in both custody and support matters for a number of years. There are many pressures for fragmentation of procedure specifically, dealing with the provincial courts. Modern family law procedure is much more like civil procedure. If inquisitorial methods are used or if discovery is limited using “simplified rules” for smaller cases, family law procedure will become two different tiers‐one for self‐represented litigants and litigants where the stakes are small and the other tier would be one that operated under the “normal” rules of civil procedure.