The Court of King’s Bench of Alberta has announced that a pilot project will be initiated in the Judicial Centre of Grande Prairie to reform the family justice system, and that Family Practice Note 5 (the “Note”) will be expanded to the Judicial Centre of Medicine Hat.
Grande Prairie Pilot Project
Effective October 21, 2024, the pilot project will be launched at the Grande Prairie courts to reduce the risk of toxic stress experienced by families and children in the adversarial legal process. Before appearing for family law applications pursuant to Part 12 of the Alberta Rules of Court, all parties will be expected to take the following steps:
- Identify the social, relationship, parenting, financial, and health challenges the family is experiencing.
- Obtain appropriate supports, including building necessary skills, to help families address their social, relationship, parenting, financial, and health issues.
- Work to reach appropriate agreements about their family matters including legal issues, with or without the assistance of resolution tools and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes.
Parties will also be expected to seek assistance with their family challenges via the Family Resource Network Hub. For a more comprehensive overview of this practice directive, read the complete notice here.
Practice Note 5
Effective October 14, 2024, the Note will now apply to the Medicine Hat courts. It pertains to a specific family law action where one parent makes allegations of child sexual abuse against the other parent, or someone in their household, and is intending to raise the allegation in a court proceeding for custody, access, parenting, or contact. The Note provides guidelines for how to proceed with these actions, including instructions on proper forms, filing, and procedure. For a more detailed overview of this practice directive, read the complete Note here.
