The Notice to Mediate (Family) Regulation, a regulation under the Law and Equity Act and the younger sibling of the Notice to Mediate (General) Regulation, was introduced in 2007 and allows a party to a family law case in the Supreme Court to compel a course of mediation by filing a Notice to Mediate no earlier than 90 days after filing of the Response to Family Claim and no later than 90 days before the trial date. The Notice to Mediate (Family) Regulation was originally limited in effect to the Nanaimo registry of the Supreme Court, but was expanded to the Victoria registry the very next year, and then to the New Westminster and Vancouver registries in 2009.
The political folderol from the Attorney General's press release says this:
"The provincewide expansion of the regulation is one of a series of steps government is taking to give families involved in legal disputes alternatives to court. Most significantly, the Province passed a new Family Law Act last November that places the best interests of children first when making any decisions involving the child and modernizes the justice system by addressing issues B.C. families are facing today. The Family Law Act is expected to come into force in 2013. These changes are among initiatives government is taking to achieve efficiencies and deal with growing resource pressures on the justice system."
For more information on the new Family Law Act, click the "Family Law Act" label below or visit the Family Law Act Information & Resources page.
