Volume 2, Number 3, 1979
Articles
- Family Maintenance: The Interaction of Federal and Provincial Law - Eric Colvin
The interaction of federal and provincial law on family maintenance involves two major areas of difficulty. The first concerns the relationship between, on the one hand, the corollary relief provisions of federal divorce legislation and orders made thereunder and, on the other hand, provincial legislation on family maintenance and orders made thereunder. The second concerns the relationship between federal and provincial provisions on matters of jurisdiction and procedure under divorce legislatioin. At issue in both areas is the application of the constitutional rule of federal paramountcy, whereby provincial law is rendered inoperative to the extent that it conflicts with federal law.
- Barriers to Consent to Treatment: The Rights of Minors in the Provision of Mental Health Services - Barbara Landau
Minors are generally denied the opportunity to participate in decisions about their physical, and in particular, their mental health. The author explores actual and presumed legal obstacles to a minor's consent to treatment and finds that there are, in fact, no age limitations on consent. In view of this conclusion, the author suggests a number of proposals for reform.
- Some Problems with Acting for Children - Frank Maczko
The independent legal representation on children in judicial proceedings has gained widespread acceptance in theory if not in practice. British Columbia has already enacted specific legislation allowing the intervention of a "Family Advocate". This paper attempts to define and to explore the various capacities in which the State and the Courts can intervene to protect children's interests by the use of lawyers. The author examines various advantages and shortcomings of the Family Advocate programme by looking at a number of cases where interventions have occured. He concludes with some recommendations for tailoring the Family Advocate programme to meet the need for the independent representation of children.
- Access Rights to Children and Maintenance Obligations: A Quid Pro Quo? - Margaret D. McDonald & Roman N. Komar
Several Court rulings in Canada and the United States have suggested that there is some correlation between a parent's access rights to children and his or her obligation to support them and a spouse (or former spouse). The authors criticise this jurisprudence for being short-sighted and prejudicial to the unrepresented interests - namely, the children's interests - and they advance a more rational proposition for total segregation of the parental rights and obligations.
Review of Periodical Literature
- François Héleine: "Les conflits entre mariage et concubinage ou la rencontre du fait et du droit" (1978), 38 R. du B. 679.
- J.A. Byles and A. Maurice: "The Juvenile Services Project: An Experiment in Delinquency Control" (1979), 21 Can. J. Criminology 155.
- M.L. Marashinge: "Polygamous Marriages and the Principle of Mutation in the Conflict of Laws" (1979), 24 McGill L.J. 395.
- Helen A. Mendes: "Single-Parent Families: A Typology of Life-Styles" (1979), 24 Social Work 193.
In The Family Courts
- The Queen v. M.S. and C.S.
- Duncan v. Duncan
- Mouritsen v. Shepley
- Re Benn
Casenotes
- Escalator Clauses in Maintenance Orders (Galbraith v. Galbraith) - Anita D. Fineberg
Book Review
- Jeffrey Wilson, Children and the Law. (Toronto: Butterworth, 1978). - Gene Colman