Volume 13, Number 1, 1996
Articles
- L'intérêt de l'enfant et les pouvoirs résiduels du parent non gardien - Dominique Goubau
La question du pouvoir résiduel du parent non gardien est actuellement controversée. Certains de ses pouvoirs, comme celui de contrôler le parent gardien, sont incontestés. Plus délicate, cependant, est la question du droit du non gardien de participer activement aux décisions importantes de l'éducation de l'enfant. Elle se pose avec particulièrement d'insistance dans les débats sur le droit du gardien de déménager avec l'enfant, au détriment des relations personnelles entre ce dernier et le parent non gardien. La question du pouvoir résiduel du parent non gardien peut être analysée sous deux volets: celui du partage des pouvoirs entre parents séparés ou divorcés et celui du règlement des conflits entre ceux-ci. Le présent texte aborde ces deux aspects de la problématique, à la lumière des plus récents arrêts de la Cour suprême. L'auteur suggère que ces questions doivent se poser en tenant compte de l'article 7 de la Charte canadienne des droits et libertés qui permet de remettre en question la conception traditionnelle de la notion de garde et d'introduire un nouvel équilibre entre les rôles parentaux dans la famille séparée.
- The Legal Representation of Children - A consultation paper prepared by The Quebec Bar Committee on the Legal Representation of Children
The Quebec Bar's concern with the legal representation of children before the courts is not recent. In 1976, the Bar presented a report on the representation of children in the matters of separation and divorce. Four years later, the Bar struck a Committee on the legal representation of children, but this committee's work was never completed. Since then, several parties have rightfully requested that the Bar state its position on the issues raised by the legal representation of children. In September 1992, the Bar struck a new Commitee on the legal representation of children. The Committee's mandate was to:
- determine the nature and the scope of the mandate of a lawyer representing a child before the courts;
- assess the need to amend the relevant legislation and establish specific ethical rules for this type of representation;
- consider the behaviour and attitude of any lawyer with respect to any child appearing before the court, whether this be as a party,wtness, or intervenor;
- study the need to offer specific professional training for any lawyer representing a child.
In the course of its work, the Committe heard the testimony of experts in relevant fields (See Appendix I). The Committe on the legal representation of children was composed of:
- Me Bartha Maria KNOPPERS, Co-Chair (1992-1993), Professor, Faculty of Law, Université de Montréal
- Me Normand BASTIEN, Co-Chair (June-December 1993), Director, Youth Division, Community Legal Centre of the Montreal Region
- Me Omer BOUDREAU, Co-Chair until his appointment to the Quebec Youth Court in June 1993
- Me Line GOSSELIN-DEPRÉS, Lawyer, Social Srvice Centre, Quebec City
- Me Pierre MARTIN, Lawyer, Community Legal Centre of the Mauricie-Bois-Francs Region
- Me Louis GRÉGOIRE, Lawyer in private practice
- Me Denis MOREAU, Lawyer in private practice
- Me Claude HARGREAVES, Director, Civil Division, Community Legal Centre of the Montreal Region
- Me Nancy MOREAU, Assistant Chief Prosecutor, Attorney General, Quebec Youth Court
- Me Monique LAUZON-GRONDIN, Director, Family-Youth Section, Community Legal Centre of the Outaouais Region
- Me Josée PAYETTE, Lawyer in private practice
- Me Claire BERNARD, Academic Secretary, Doctoral Candidate, Faculty of Law, Université de Montréal
- Me Josée-Anne SIMARD, Secretary to the Committee (1992- September 1993), Lawyer, Research and Legislation Department, Quebec Bar
- Me Françoise BOISVERT, Interim Secretary to the Committee (September-November 1993), Lawyer, Research and Legislation Department, Quebec Bar
Review of Periodical Literature
- Judith Mossop, "Motherhood, Madness, and the Law" (1995) 45 University of Toronto Law Journal 107. - James Kim
- Forrest S. Mosten, "Emerging Roles of the Family Lawyer: A Challenge for the Courts" (1995) 33 Family & Conciliation Courts Review 213. - Janice L. Moore
Book Review
- T.W. Hainsworth, Divorce Act Manual (Aurora, Ont.: Canada Law Book Inc., 1994). - Jack Aaron & Sandra G. Birch