NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS
TRANSFORM THE FAMILY JUSTICE SYSTEM
A New Year’s Resolution
“I
think we would all agree that family is the cornerstone of our communities, of our society, and of our country. And yet our family justice system needs to make a profound shift. We cannot ignore the science. We are beyond the time of incremental change. It is time to positively support families at their time of greatest need, a time of grief and restructuring, by transforming the family justice system to support family well-being.” Nancy Cameron, QC, at the BC/Yukon Colloquium on Transforming the Family Justice System, November 23, 2020 This is a call for action and what better time than at the beginning of a New Year, when we are making New Year’s Resolutions, to respond to that call. Together let us resolve to transform the family justice system so that it works better for families. Richard Susskind in his recent book, Online Courts and the Future of Justice, advocates for a broader view of the justice system and of access to justice. Access to justice is about more than getting your day in Court with
52
TABLE OF CONTENTS
a lawyer by your side. Very few families with family justice issues actually end up in Court. Access to justice is also about dispute resolution outside of Court; it is about dispute containment and dispute avoidance and it is about legal health promotion—empowering people to access the many benefits that the law can confer.
This is a call for action and what better time than at the beginning of a New Year, when we are making New Year’s Resolutions, to respond to that call. BC Notaries serve families and many of the families they serve are simultaneously experiencing family justice issues. That puts Notaries on the front-line when it comes to transforming the family justice system. Notaries are right there at the intersection between families and the justice system. They observe the challenges of families trying to manage family justice issues. While Notaries cannot provide legal advice on family law, they can refer families to where they need to go for help, when they need that help. They can also provide other supports for family members that do not require being a member of the Law Society. BC Notaries Association
Jane Morley, QC
Notaries are in a good position to really understand how access to justice is not just about process; it is about creating the conditions that allow people to live a good life.1 In the family justice system, improving access to justice means designing a system that promotes family well-being. After many years of talk, now is the time to move forward on this. Access to Justice BC (A2JBC) is a collaboration of justice sector stakeholders that have aligned around the Access to Justice Triple Aim. https://accesstojusticebc.ca/ the-a2j-triple-aim/. Notaries are an important part of the justice sector, who through their organizations— The Notary Foundation, The Society of Notaries of BC, and the BC Notaries Association—have endorsed the Triple Aim. In October 2019, the Access to Justice BC (A2JBC) Leadership Group committed to addressing the negative impacts on child well-being when families are interacting with the family justice system. It directed that a “practical” leadership plan be developed for A2JBC to meet this commitment. 1 Farrow, Trevor C.W. “What is Access to Justice?” Osgoode Hall Law Journal, Volume 51, Issue 3 (Spring 2014), at pp 970-972, available online at: http://digitalcommons. osgoode.yorku.ca/ohlj/vol51/iss3/10
Volume 29 Number 4 Winter 2020
