Author Archives: Janet Mosher

About Janet Mosher

Janet Mosher, BMusA (Western Ontario), LLB (Queen's), LLM (Toronto). Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School. Please click here for more information.

Submission to Justice Canada on the Criminalization of Coercive Control

By: Janet Mosher, Shushanna Harris, Jennifer Koshan, and Wanda Wiegers

Bill Commented On: Bill C-332, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (controlling or coercive conduct), First Session, Forty-fourth Parliament (2023)

PDF Version: Submission to Justice Canada on the Criminalization of Coercive Control

Justice Canada has been holding an engagement process on the issue of whether an offence of coercive control should be added to the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46. This offence has been proposed in a series of private members bills, most recently, Bill C-332. Our submission (link below) argues that it is imperative that actors in all legal domains acquire a nuanced and contextual understanding of coercive control derived from an intersectional analysis that attends to how multiple systems of oppression interact to shape the tactics of coercion and control. However, we do not support the criminalization of coercive control, either as a standalone offence or within a broader offence of domestic abuse/violence. We argue that it is the former approach – the acquisition of deep and contextualized knowledge by legal system actors – and not criminalization, that holds promise in enhancing safety for women and children. Continue reading →

Domestic Violence and Access to Justice: A Mapping of Relevant Laws, Policies and Justice System Components Across Canada

By: Jennifer Koshan, Janet Mosher and Wanda Wiegers

PDF Version: Domestic Violence and Access to Justice: A Mapping of Relevant Laws, Policies and Justice System Components Across Canada

Matter Commented On: eBook on Domestic Violence Law across Canada, 2020 CanLIIDocs 3160

November 25 to December 10 marks the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence provincially, federally and internationally. This is therefore an apt time for the publication of our new eBook on domestic violence law across Canada on Can LII (available at 2020 CanLIIDocs 3160). This eBook is the first resource to systematically document all of the laws and government policies that pertain to domestic violence across the country as a first step in providing access to justice. Several of the laws and policies we discuss in the eBook have been previously addressed in ABlawg posts (see e.g. Clare’s Law: Unintended Consequences for Domestic Violence Victims?; Mandatory Dispute Resolution Coming Back to Alberta, But What About Domestic Violence Cases?; Alberta’s Family Violence Laws: Intersections, Inconsistencies and Access to Justice). This post reproduces the Introduction and User Guide for this new eBook, which is aimed at people working with and supporting survivors of domestic violence, as well as researchers and government actors.

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COVID-19, Domestic Violence, and Technology-Facilitated Abuse

By: Jennifer Koshan, Janet Mosher, and Wanda Wiegers

PDF Version: COVID-19, Domestic Violence, and Technology-Facilitated Abuse

On 27 May 2020, UN Women launched the “shadow pandemic” public awareness campaign, drawing attention to the global spike in domestic violence linked to COVID-19. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women, describes the idea of a shadow pandemic as follows: “Even before the [COVID-19] pandemic, violence against women was one of the most widespread violations of human rights. Since lockdown restrictions, domestic violence has multiplied, spreading across the world in a shadow pandemic.”

We are in the midst of a multi-year research project on domestic violence and access to justice across Canada, but decided to shift our attention this spring/summer to the legal and policy responses to domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. One aspect of our research examines the responses of courts, including what sorts of matters they consider “urgent” enough to hear during the pandemic, and how urgent cases involving domestic violence are being dealt with on the merits. We found 67 relevant cases reported on Can LII between March 16 and June 1, 2020, with relevance meaning that the cases deal with domestic violence issues that were related to the pandemic in some way. These cases span the areas of family, child protection, criminal, and protection order law. One cross-cutting theme in the case law is surveillance and technology-facilitated abuse, which is the subject of this post. We also provide some comments on access to justice issues raised by our case law sample.

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Mandatory Dispute Resolution Coming Back to Alberta, But What About Domestic Violence Cases?

By: Jennifer Koshan, Janet Mosher and Wanda Wiegers

PDF Version: Mandatory Dispute Resolution Coming Back to Alberta, But What About Domestic Violence Cases?

Matter Commented On: Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta, Notice to the Profession & Public – Enforcement of Mandatory Alternative Dispute Resolution Rules 8.4(3)(A) and 8.5(1)(A)

Last month, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta issued a Notice to the Profession indicating that it would be lifting the suspension of the mandatory alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provisions of the Alberta Rules of Court, Alta Reg 124/2010, for a one-year pilot period commencing September 1, 2019. Mandatory ADR (or mandatory judicial dispute resolution, JDR) will now apply once again to civil and family litigation in Alberta. Although there are some exceptions to this requirement, there is no explicit exemption for domestic violence cases. As noted in a previous ABlawg post concerning similar developments under family legislation in Saskatchewan and federally under the Divorce Act, RSC 1985, c 3 (2nd Supp), as well as a more recent post on a government review of civil and family legislation in Ontario, cases involving domestic violence may not be not appropriate for ADR, and should be explicitly exempted from any mandatory requirements. There should also be screening and training requirements on domestic violence for those who will be assessing exemptions and conducting ADR. Continue reading →

Ontario’s Review of Family and Civil Legislation, Regulations, and Processes: The Need to Prioritize Domestic Violence

By: Janet Mosher, Jennifer Koshan and Wanda Wiegers

PDF Version: Ontario’s Review of Family and Civil Legislation, Regulations, and Processes: The Need to Prioritize Domestic Violence

Matter Commented On: Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, Review of Family and Civil Legislation, Regulations, and Processes

On July 9, 2019, the government of Ontario announced that the Parliamentary Assistant to the Attorney General, Lindsey Park, was undertaking a review of family and civil legislation, regulations, and processes. According to the news release, “The review will explore ways to simplify family and civil court processes, reduce costs and delays, and encourage the earlier resolution of disputes.” More specifically, the Ministry of the Attorney General is seeking to:

  • direct family law matters out of a combative court process, where possible;
  • reduce the cost of the process to families and taxpayers; and
  • streamline the processes to shorten the time to resolution.

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