Law Times

PAGE 10 Integrated court brings domestic violence, family law cases together FOCUS F BY JUDY VAN RHIJN For Law Times 311 Jarvis St. courthouse in To- ronto as part of a two-year pilot project that combines criminal and family matters arising from family breakdown. The parties not only obtain the benefit of a dedi- cated judge who can manage the complex issues involved but can also access duty counsel in both family and criminal law to assist them and their lawyer. The integrated court has au- or the last year, the inte- grated domestic violence court has been operating every second Friday at the so intertwined," she says. "You re- ally need to combine them or the true story just doesn't come out." Kalra identifies a growing trend of parties seeking criminal charges in order to get exclusive possession of the family home. "We are seeing way too much of this. They are completely abusing the system. Unfortunately, crimi- nal law judges don't recognize that a lot of people are calling the cops to get an upper hand in family law. Kalra, in fact, had a female " thority to conduct case confer- ences, make temporary and final orders on consent of the parties in family cases for custody, ac- cess, and support matters, hear bail variations, handle criminal pretrials, and accept guilty pleas. There are obvious cost and time savings involved and the final orders are likely to address the 'What ends up happening, when criminal law and family law are completely sepa- rate, is that family lawyers are not kept in the loop,' says Shelly Kalra. whole situation and not subvert or clash with other aspects. Shelly Kalra, family law coun- sel at Stanchieri Family Law in downtown Toronto, is one of many lawyers who have wel- comed the project. "Domestic vi- olence matters and family law are client whose husband called the police during a verbal argument. She had to leave the home and ended up paying a significant amount in fees related to the criminal process before her ulti- mate acquittal. "I received a let- ter from the family lawyer with an offer to settle the same day she was charged, so it seemed planned, violence proceedings is to delay the family law process until the criminal hearing is over. "Who The general effect of domestic " says Kalra. wants to go into a custody hearing with criminal charges pending?" asks Kalra. "The optics are not in your favour." ficulty family lawyers have in get- ting information from the Crown in the criminal matter. "What ends up happening, when criminal law and family law are completely sep- arate, is that family lawyers are not kept in the loop, nal proceedings, the options aren't good either. "You can en- ter into a peace bond, but that affects your custody and access, so people fight it right to the end. Some get off, but it takes over a year. In the meantime, there is an automatic restraining order so you can't have contact with your partner or the children and a motion in the family law mat- ter with an interim order made. This project is trying to expedite the process by combining the two matters." Kalra notes that in the crimi- " she says. Kalra also speaks of the dif- defence lawyer who has experi- enced the process from the crimi- nal side. His client was a female who was charged with assault when she discovered her husband was cheating on her. The wife had filed emergency family law docu- ments and the husband filed a counter application. The mat- ter first came up at Old City Hall where Stanford learned it would go to 311 Jarvis St. instead. He de- scribes what followed as a "very positive experience. Norm Stanford is a criminal had the opportunity to speak directly to both parties and to assess the situation properly, "A very experienced Crown " he says. He notes that in most domestic violence matters, the Crown goes through victim ser- vices where they only talk about specific matters such as fear of future harm and any wishes to resume the relationship or con- tact. "They don't discuss the al- legations and the Crown doesn't physically see the complain- ant until the final hearing, " Stanford. In his client's case, the " says criminal charges were dropped and his client obtained a much better outcome than if the pro- ceedings had remained separate. "What I find so problematic is that the Crowns usually err on the side of caution even if neither party wants to pursue the crimi- nal charges — say if it was a one- off and there is no real cause for concern," says Stanford. "When the Crown sees the parties first-hand, they can see the power balance and assess if it' to get everyone in the same room." Support YOUR ONE-STOP REFERENCE TO CIVIL REMEDIES IN NEW AND UNUSUAL CASES AND SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES LYNN M. 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For easy reference, this publication: • Organizes cases by situation or set of circumstances • Provides comprehensive coverage of each situation's related law in a single resource • Spells out jurisdictional differences, nuances, and contrasts across Canada The author shows how the law has been applied to and is adjusting to both new and emerging situations in the following areas: Torts and Law Enforcement Officials, Torts in Sports, Workplace Torts, and Public Torts. AVAILABLE RISK-FREE FOR 30 DAYS Order online: www.carswell.com Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 In Toronto: 416-609-3800 Continued from page 9 the judiciary. On the rare oc- casions when judges have had the opportunity to consider the situation, they have applied the doctrine of immunity for expert witnesses. Hamilton, for example, was successful at the Ontario Court of Appeal in Van de Vrande v. Butkowsky and Leonoff suc- cessfully defended a complaint brought in the Small Claims Court in July 2012. Leonoff is hoping all of the at all. Former attorney general Chris Bentley had assigned staff to work on the issue, but that work has reportedly since come to a standstill. The Ontario Bar Association has struck its own working group in an attempt to find a non-litigious solution. Support is also coming from various efforts will put the issue on everyone' a regulatory climate which takes into account the context," he says. "We need some sort of filter " LT s agenda. "We need so the colleges are not inadver- tently interfering with the ad- ministration of justice. www.lawtimesnews.com from judges s really serious or not. It's good LT November 5, 2012 • Law Times

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