ASSESSMENTS FOR POSTSEPARATION PARENTING DISPUTES IN CANADA

There is controversy in Canada about the use of assessments by mental health professionals to assist in the resolution of postseparation disputes between parents about their children. Although the principles developed by the Supreme Court of Canada to govern the admission of expert evidence in criminal law cases provides guidance for judges in family law cases, in deciding whether to order an assessment or admit expert evidence, family law judges must also take account of the child-related context. Mental health professionals can provide valuable information that would otherwise be unavailable when making prospective decisions about children. Court-appointed assessors also have a significant institutional role in the family law cases that has no equivalent in the criminal law context. Assessors are important not only for the relatively rare cases that go to trial, but they also play a central role in helping to resolve the much larger number of cases that are settled.     

RESPONSE

This is a response to “A Comment on William J. Howe and Hugh McIsaac's Article ‘Finding the Balance’ Published in the January 2008 Issue of Family Court Review.”     

FINDING THE BALANCE: ETHICAL CHALLENGES AND BEST PRACTICES FOR LAWYERS REPRESENTING PARENTS WHEN THE INTERESTS OF CHILDREN ARE AT STAKE

This article explores ethical and practical issues facing attorneys in representing parents in a contested custody matter. The article traces the history of the way this matter has been handled historically and presents the latest thinking reflected by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers in their most recent publication of ethical guidelines for attorneys. The article also presents perspectives from several jurisdictions including Australia and Oregon.     

FAMILY LAW EDUCATION REFORM PROJECT: A FACULTY PERSPECTIVE

The Family Law Education Reform Project Report calls for shifting the family law teaching paradigm from a focus on case‐based analysis toward a problem‐solving, interdisciplinary approach. This essay encourages law professors to take seriously this shifting teaching and learning paradigm. Aligning family law curriculum with the realities of practicing family law is a critical step in this process. This essay discusses the numerous intellectual challenges family law professors will face as they reflect on the proposed FLER Project curriculum.     

CHILD‐FOCUSED AND CHILD‐INCLUSIVE DIVORCE MEDIATION: COMPARATIVE OUTCOMES FROM A PROSPECTIVE STUDY OF POSTSEPARATION ADJUSTMENT

This study compared outcomes over 1 year for two groups of separated parents, who attended two different forms of brief therapeutic mediation for entrenched parenting disputes. The two interventions each targeted psychological resolution of parental conflict, enhanced parental reflective function, and associated reduction of distress for their children. The child‐focused (CF) intervention actively supported parents to consider the needs of their children, but without any direct involvement of the children, while the child‐inclusive (CI) intervention incorporated separate consultation by a specialist with the children in each family, and consideration of their concerns with parents in the mediation forum. Repeated measures at baseline, 3 months, and 1 year postintervention explored changes over time and across treatments in conflict management, subjective distress, and relationship quality for all family members. Enduring reduction in levels of conflict and improved management of disputes, as reported by parents and children, occurred for both treatment groups in the year after mediation. The CI intervention had several impacts not evident in the other treatment group, related to relationship improvements and psychological well‐being. These effects were strongest for fathers and children. Agreements reached by the CI group were significantly more durable, and the parents in this group were half as likely to instigate new litigation over parenting matters in the year after mediation as were the CF parents. The article explores the potential of CI divorce mediation to not only safely include many children in family law matters related to them, but also to promote their developmental recovery from high‐conflict separation, through enhanced emotional availability of their parents.     

欧洲家庭法统一进程的最新发展——以欧洲家庭法协会为视角

欧洲家庭法协会(CEFL),以协调和统一欧洲家庭法为己任,自2001年成立以来着手对欧洲传统家庭法领域展开实体法协调的尝试。在离婚、离异配偶间扶养、父母责任等家庭法领域起草若干原则作为示范法,反映了欧洲比较家庭法的最新发展进程。即使在欧盟各成员国批准《里斯本条约》后,CEFL仍有其发挥作用的空间。     

试论中国亲属法哲学的发展方向——兼与徐国栋教授商榷

近年来,我国亲属法制建设与法学研究进入了比较繁荣的时期。但是,亲属关系的立法和亲属法基本原理的研究依然令人忧虑,有许多重大基本理论问题未能得以明晰。其主要原因在于,作为部门法哲学重要分支的亲属法哲学研究尚处于起步阶段,该研究领域还有许多等待开垦的荒地。由于基本原理中很多重大问题难以达成学术共识,导致目前亲属法的实践,尤其是司法解释和司法适用的法律实践存在诸多问题。本文从亲属法哲学的本体论层面,就亲属法的法律定位及调整对象等问题的学术论争提出了自己的观点,同时,就徐国栋教授的某些学术见解提出了不同意见。     

2001年婚姻法增补内容研究综述

我国于2001年修订颁布了《中华人民共和国婚姻法》,这是我国自建国后第二次修改婚姻法。2001年婚姻法增补的内容有深刻的立法背景及原因。但尚存争议,在实际操作中还需要不断地完善。     

家产制与中国家庭法律的社会适应——一种“实践的法律社会学”分析

家产制作为一种习惯法,与中国的家庭法律及其社会适应性存在着密切关联。对家产制和家庭法律的研究应该采取实践的法律社会学态度,通过经验研究来充分展示转型社会对家庭本身的内在需求,从而在法律制度上对这种社会需求给于正确的回应。考察分家模式的历史变迁,可以发现家产制是处理中国家庭财产分配的根本制度选择。在产权结构上,家产制具有客体上的公有性、主体上的多元性以及主体作用于客体的身份性等三大特征,从而区别于西方所有权制度。这种特殊的家产制度是中国转型社会的内在需求,因为中国农村的城市化是一个长期的过程,而在这个过程中家产制有利于维护家庭的稳定从而有助于城市化的顺利进行;另外一方面,家产制有利于补充国家养老能力的不足从而确保城市家庭的稳定和再生产,提升国家的整体竞争力。然而家庭法律却日益朝着去家产制和私权化的方向发展,从而丧失社会适应性,不利于家庭和社会的稳定。因此,中国的家庭立法应该回归新的家产制,并以其为中心确立起发展型家庭法律体系。     

德国婚后扶养制度研究

根据德国2008年修订后的有关法律,离婚配偶可以因为照顾共同子女、年老、疾病、失业、收入差距、接受教育等原因请求扶养费,也可以基于公平原则请求扶养。公平原则不仅本身可以作为扶养费请求权的基础,同时也是确定扶养费具体数额的标准。扶养费必须满足权利人全部的生活需要,同时兼顾婚姻中的生活状况。提供扶养费的前提是保证义务人自身的供养,以免其本身成为扶养请求权的权利人,同时还要扣除权利人本身的收入。如果扶养义务人同时向多人承担扶养义务,应该按照法律规定的顺位,优先满足未成年子女的扶养费。为了实现个案中的公平原则,德国2008年立法改革对于扶养请求权设定了限制,包括时间上的限制和数额上的限制。此外,为了达到公平的目的,法律规定了8种重大不公的情况,在这些情况下,扶养义务人可以免除其扶养责任。     

CHILDREN,THE UNCRC,AND FAMILY LAW IN ENGLAND AND WALES

There is no doubt that, overall, there has been a great deal of activity in relation to children's rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) since it was ratified by the UK government in 1991. Of particular significance in the context of family law, however, are the provisions of Article 12, which have in many ways proved to be more problematic than other provisions, not least because, in the context of family law, children's participation rights are necessarily juxtaposed with the long‐standing and hitherto unchallenged rights of parents to make important decisions about family life. The reorganisation in 2001 of the family court welfare services in England and Wales with the creation of the Children and Family Courts Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS), generated a new impetus for the consideration of children's participation rights and, at an organizational level, considerable progress has been made in embracing the provisions of the UNCRC. More problematic, however, is the acceptance of children's participation in making decisions about their futures by adults using and working in the family justice system. At the level of the courts, judicial attitudes are slow to change and in England, as court judgments often demonstrate, these are firmly rooted in a view of children as being incompetent in such issues; at the level of parents using the system, it is arguable that new discourses about the best interests of the child serve as a proxy for continuing discourses about parents’ rights that have become evident, most recently, in the context of an increasingly influential fathers’ rights lobby; and at the level of welfare practitioners, recent research also demonstrates that, although the rhetoric of children's rights is widely accepted, the willingness and ability to make these real in the context of family proceedings is, for a variety of reasons, less in evidence.     

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.