Miscellaneous

Those Crazy Canadians!

By Anne Skove, Esq.

And you thought you were having a bad day.

A judge has banned a divorcing couple (and we use that word loosely) from appearing before him in Ontario Superior Court.

The two were married for a year (one wonders how the union ever came to be) and, sadly, have an 8-year-old child. Between them, the pair have fought through 12 judges, just as many lawyers, 25 court orders, 2000 pages of filings, 3 contempt motions, and 1 suspended sentence.

First, the mother: she pulled the child out of school after the father attended a parent-teacher meeting, took the child to dozens of appointments trying to find evidence of emotional abuse by the father, has violated court orders at least 19 times, and has been convicted of contempt.

Oddly enough, the report says she works at a "wellness centre."

Now, the father: he has spent over $200,000 fighting support payments, and fought for a longer sentence for his ex-wife's contempt conviction.

The judge noted that the two "gorged on court resources as if the legal system were their private banquet table."

He also hoped that "some day, a wise person in a position of authority will realize that a court oflaw is not the best forum for deciding custody and access disputes, where principles of common sense masquerade as principles of law." Perhaps he is not aware of the court's family mediation services or the Ontario Association for Family Mediation, or does he think these groups need more teeth?

See Judge Bars Battling Parents from Court, Paul Waldie, Globe and Mail (May 8, 2008).

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on May 08, 2008 (boomark / email).