Volume 20, Number 2, 2004
Forum: Hartshorne v. Hartshorne, 2004 SCC 22
- Marriage à la carte: A Comment on Hartshorne v. Hartshorne - Martha Bailey
- Domestic Contracts, Part II: The Supreme Court's Decision in Hartshorne v. Hartshorne - Martha Shaffer
Case Comment
- Contino v. Leonelli-Contino - A Critical Analysis of the Ontario Court of Appeal Interpretation of Section 9 of the Child Support Guidelines - Gene C. Colman
The author maintains that when addressing section 9 of the Child Support Guidelines, the Ontario Court of Appeal quite correctly analyzed but only part of the problem. The author criticizes the Court on two grounds: 1) When implementing its articulated general principles, the Court seemed to treat the parents on a basis that might be explained by gender. As joint custodial parents—each with 50 per cent of the child’s time—both former spouses should have been treated in the same manner. 2) The Court seemed to be unaware that the underlying design of the Child Support Guidelines incorrectly assumes that an access parent incurs no cost at all connected with the exercise of access. Therefore, the Court’s consideration of the incremental costs of moving from under 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the child’s time, had to be inherently flawed.
Article
- Two-Income Couples: Presumption of Need for the Lower Income Spouse - Miriam Grassby
Allan Falconer Memorial Student Essay Contest Winner
- Boston v. Boston: A Case Comment - Afshan Ali
Commentary
- Procedural Fairness and Case Conferences - Gene C. Colman
Procedural fairness should be a bulwark of our family law system. The author argues that rules can provide for that fairness but he cautions against adopting procedures that are unfair to the litigants. An opportunity to be heard means having a meaningful opportunity to respond. Case conferences where unsworn briefs and counsel’s submissions are before the court should not form the basis of orders that impinge upon the parties’ substantive rights. Judges and lawyers should comply with the rules and therefore promote respect for our legal system.