BC Civil (Family) Court System: too much and too long.
Today I head to court for a parent for the 6th time to try and obtain some financial support from the other parent. Family Maintenance Enforcement Program is available, but an order or agreement is required for FMEP has something to enforce. The parent and I sought to obtain an Order to file with FMEP. We went to court at least 4 times only to get told the court does not have time to hear us...4 times. Given the parent's situation and other extenuating circumstances, I was doing it for free. However, lot's of people are intimidated by the system or need legal representation because they have no idea how the system works.
If you think about how much lawyer's typically cost, anywhere from $175 - $400 an hour, going to court and not being heard on 4 occasions is very expensive. In fact, in this case, it would not even be worth going to court because it would cost more but the parent would receive less in support. The matter was a BC Provincial Court proceeding. BC Supreme Court proceedings are no better.
In BC Supreme Court, if you bring on an application for temporary orders (arrangements pending a final resolution), you go on a list with other cases that are to be called that day. Shorter time estimates typically go first, longer after. Generally foreclosure applications (banks calling on house mortgages) go first. The time estimates for applications that are 5 minutes usually so these go first. But home owners looking to save their home show up to court and plead with the court. So a 5 minute application turns into a 15 minute application. Then what you have are these applications taking a good chunk of the morning of the court's time. Than the rest is up for grabs which means you have a number of applications with different time estimates looking to be heard. However, the court does not have enough time to hear them all. So what ends up happening? You may or may not be called on that day. If your application is not called, you have to come back another day. This is simply not affordable for people in family legal matters. We need a court designated for "family" matters; OR applications by financial institutions (e.g. foreclosures) or that involve insurance companies (like ICBC claims, etc) should be called AFTER family matters with similar time estimates, not before.
So, my point? We need vast improvements with our legal system related to family legal matters. Otherwise, people cannot access the system. Right now, some just walk away. It cost too much and takes too long. As a lawyer, our job is to be as cost efficient as possible; but only a few things can be controlled. The time it takes to be heard at court is not one of them.
