THE EMERGENCE OF TRIAGE IN FAMILY COURT SERVICES: THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR MANDATORY MEDIATION?*

Mandatory mediation has, since its inception in the 1980s, been at the heart of family court service agencies. However, changing times, more complex family problems, and a lack of court resources have created significant service delivery challenges. This article examines the emergence of variations of triage processes in family court service agencies as a response and contends that it is time to consider replacing the tiered service delivery model.     

‘It’s Not OK’, but ‘It’ never happened: parental alienation accusations undermine children’s safety in the New Zealand Family Court

ABSTRACT

While the public campaign slogan in New Zealand when referring to family violence, is ‘It’s Not OK’, many women in New Zealand report that the Family Court prefers the catchphrase ‘It never happened’. When women and children escaping violence and abuse reach out to the New Zealand Family Court for protection believing the justice system will help them, they often enter an alternative reality where they are not believed and are subsequently made less safe. This is particularly so for those women whose well-founded fears for their children’s safety get reinterpreted as evidence of a deliberate attempt to alienate the children from their fathers. The Backbone Collective, an independent organisation, surveyed New Zealand women about their experiences in the Family Court, finding that many women reported being accused of parental alienation. This paper investigates the sources of these allegations of parental alienation and how they impact mothers and their children. We argue that the use of parental alienation in the New Zealand Family Court is undermining the international rights of children.     

FAMILIES,COURTS, AND THE END OF LIFE: SCHIAVO AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FAMILY JUSTICE SYSTEM

The article discusses a proposed universal adoption of comprehensive family law subject matter jurisdiction, inclusive of end‐of‐life (EOL) cases, as articulated in the unified family court (UFC) concept. It posits, using the Schiavo matter to illustrate the difficulties inherent in EOL disputes, that contested EOL cases are unlike other civil court cases in that they involve intimate facts and emotionally laden family dynamics. As such, these cases pose a distinctive challenge for the courts. The article suggests that contested EOL cases should be heard in a UFC because UFCs include alternative dispute resolution (ADR) protocols to deescalate family strife with the goal of facilitating out‐of‐court settlements and that litigation is an imperfect solution for an EOL dispute. It is also noted that judges presiding in UFCs are more experienced in handling fractious family matters and thus they are more likely to avert protracted litigation if the matter is not settled via ADR.     

BUILDING A CHILD PROTECTION MEDIATION PROGRAM IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

Effective implementation of mediation programs on a large scale is a complex challenge. This article describes the process of design and implementation of a child protection mediation model and highlights the challenges and successes involved in leading fundamental culture shifts within the child welfare system over a period of eleven years.     

法院调解的“复兴”与未来

进入二十一世纪以来,法院调解制度重新获得重视,有再度兴盛之势。法院调解制度是适应国家治理社会需要的产物。国家社会治理战略的调整必然影响法院调解制度的发展。转型时期社会自我解纷能力低下和社会纠纷的特殊性,决定了法院调解制度将继续发挥社会整合与治理功能。而对法院调解的实证分析表明,该制度的"审判权本位"是影响其功能发挥的重要因素。提高法院调解的制度化程度,构建诉权对审判权的制约机制,是法院调解发展的未来走向。     

WHAT SHOULD FAMILY LAWYERS KNOW? RESULTS OF A SURVEY OF PRACTITIONERS AND STUDENTS1

The contemporary practice of family law demands that lawyers know far more than the law. Results of a recent survey of professionals and law students suggest that today's family lawyer needs knowledge and skills that are often missing from law school curricula. Survey respondents emphasized the importance of strong interpersonal skills like listening, negotiation, and working with clients in emotional crisis, as well as keen understanding of financial issues in family law, the impact of separation and divorce on children, and the ethical dimensions of family law practice. Law students held contrasting views to law faculty and to practicing attorneys on a number of measures, ranking adversarial courtroom skills as more important and placing less emphasis on skills, knowledge, and attributes related to ethics.     

外国环境司法专门化的经验及挑战

20世纪70年代后期,各国环境司法出现一个新趋势,即环境司法专门化,环境案件被集中于专门的环境审判机构审理。这种纠纷处理模式的建立伴随着环境案件管辖权、环境纠纷审理规则、审判人员组成和知识结构、纠纷处理方式以及案件管理方式等的调整和创新。环境司法专门化有力促进了环境法的司法化,也促进了环境法理论和实践的发展。但是环境司法专门化也面临许多困难及挑战,环境法庭并不是环境纠纷解决的唯一场所,也未必是最好的场所,各国应该根据自身的实际情况确定是否建立环境法庭及其运作规则。     

法经济学与纠纷解决

作为一种全新的法学解释系统和理论框架,法经济学有着自身的研究范式。法经济学的研究范式应该是研究纠纷解决理论的有利工具。法经济学基本研究范式对纠纷解决的理论阐释包括对成本效益、供求关系和市场、纠纷解决过程中国家制定法与民间社会非正式规范的博弈均衡等诸多方面的理论分析。在法经济学的研究视角下,论述纠纷诉讼外解决的经济社会合理性。     

EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATIONS: APPLICATIONS TO CUSTODY AND PARENTING TIME CASES PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION IN HENNEPIN COUNTY,MINNESOTA

A program to apply Early Neutral Evaluation (ENE), a confidential, settlement‐oriented and accelerated alternative dispute resolution technique, to child custody and parenting time cases has been cooperatively developed by Hennepin county Family Court Services and the Minnesota Fourth Judicial District Family Court. Parties are referred by the court to a male/female team of experienced neutral evaluators for early feedback on the probable outcome of a full evaluation and an opportunity to negotiate a settlement. It has proven to be a highly successful program in its first 2 years, with the majority of cases reaching an early settlement. The ENE program reduces the stress and expense of custody disputes for clients, expedites judicial case management, maximizes Family Court Services staff efficiency, and focuses subsequent evaluations on critical issues.     

EXPANDING FORENSICALLY INFORMED EVALUATIONS AND THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS IN FAMILY COURT

As the field of forensic family law has become more empirical and in need of novel behavioral health services, it has become necessary to broaden the duties of practitioners, to clarify forensic roles, and to develop more comprehensive court orders. This article introduces the application of Forensically Informed Evaluations and Therapeutic Interventions in family court; a constellation of evaluations and interventions developed to better meet the needs of children and families during and after dissolution or reconstitution. These family court appointments also meet the growing demands of the court and contribute to the trend toward discriminative application of empirically informed behavioral health services in forensic family law.     

美国阶梯式纠纷解决条款执行力问题研究

如何选择一种更快捷、更有效以及更便宜的方式来解决合同纠纷,是国际商事社会如今所面临的挑战。这并不是说要摒弃传统的诉讼和仲裁等争议解决机制,而是指需要用其他替代手段来补充这些机制。本文将以美国为例,对ADR方式作为仲裁或诉讼前置程序的阶梯式纠纷解决条款进行研究,以期提供给当事方最好的争议解决机制来满足维持其彼此间良好关系的特殊需要。     

论多元纠纷解决机制的引导机制

当前,虽不敢妄言中国已经进入“后诉讼时代”,但多元纠纷解决机制作为一种客观存在,其合理性已被诸多学者反复论证并在实践中广泛采用。在此背景下,关于多种纠纷解决方式的建构、完善以及相互之间的衔接成为了理论界与实务界热情不减的探讨课题。置身于纠纷解决途径匮乏的现实情境,此种关注实为必要。不过,令人稍感困惑的是,人们在倾心构筑多种纠纷解决方式之际,却忽视了纠纷解决需求者在面临具体纠纷时选择之迷茫,这种“多元性无知”无疑是多元纠纷解决机制推行之羁绊。通过探究多元纠纷解决机制之引导机制,指引当事人找到进入“某个恰当程序的大门”。     

A PRACTITIONER'S PERSPECTIVE ON UNIFIED FAMILY COURTS: CASE STUDIES

As a summary of simple examples demonstrating practical advantages of a family court, this article relates a few experiences from the perspective of a family law attorney who practices regularly in the Fulton County Family Division in Atlanta.     

REEVALUATING WHERE WE STAND: A COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY OF AMERICA'S FAMILY JUSTICE SYSTEMS

The call for court reform remains critical in the face of the growing complexity of burgeoning family law cases nationwide. Many states have restructured their court systems using the unified family court model, resolving legal, personal, emotional, and social disputes with the aim of improving the well‐being of families and children. Other states utilize the traditional approach, resulting in cases being handled in a fragmented, time‐consuming and expensive manner. In this article, Professor Barbara A. Babb presents the results of her nationwide survey regarding how each state handles family law matters. The survey is a follow‐up to her comprehensive 1998 survey and her 2002 survey update. The results of the recent analysis reveal that a total of thirty‐eight states now have either statewide family courts, family courts in selected areas of the state, or pilot or planned family courts, representing seventy‐five percent of states. The number of states without a specialized or separate system to handle family law matters has decreased from seventeen states in 1998 to thirteen in 2006. These changes are significant when one considers the complexities involved in court reform. The need for court reform remains an urgent one, as family law cases occupy a significant percentage of court dockets across the country. Families and children deserve a court system where justice is effective and efficient and where their legal, personal, emotional, and social needs are resolved in a therapeutic and holistic manner.     

ADR适用于解决行政纠纷的合宪性论证

ADR应用于行政纠纷解决领域,不但关涉公共资源配置和公民利用司法的权利问题,更涉及行政权、司法权和立法权之间的分权关系以及法治原则等重要宪法原则,必然会引发关于合宪性的关注与审视。ADR合宪性命题的证成是推广应用ADR的必经之路。在法律移植层面上,作为一种在不同的法律秩序中完成同一功能的规则,美国行政纠纷解决中ADR合宪性之确立,为学界探究我国多元化行政纠纷解决机制提供了一种比较与借鉴的视角。     

关于网络购物纠纷解决的调查与思考

随着网络购物的兴起,网络购物纠纷也日益增多,而且网络购物纠纷解决起来往往困难重重。因此,只有加强道德建设和法制教育,营造一个有利于纠纷解决的道德和法制环境,构建完善的多元化网络购物纠纷解决机制,才能更好地解决网络购物纠纷,促进我国经济的进一步发展。     

行政争议的中立评估及其制度构建

行政争议的中立评估机制是指由具备专门解纷知识的中立评估员对纠纷进入行政复议、行政诉讼等渠道的审理前景进行预测的一种制度。它能在降低当事人过高的解纷期望、促成当事人之间达成和解、克服评估式调解的弊端等方面发挥积极作用,亟待引入我国行政争议解决领域之中。中立评估机制处于合意型行政争议解决机制与决定型行政争议解决机制的连接点...