Daniel Melamed speaks to The Lawyer’s Daily about amicus curiae in private family law cases
Overview
The Ontario Court of Appeal has enunciated the principles governing the appointment of amicus curiae (friend of the court) in private family law cases — and the message from Morwald Benevides v. Benevides 2019 ONCA 1023 is unequivocally that appointments in such cases should be the exceptions to the rule.
Daniel Melamed says the court stood firm despite the issues arising from the “dozens of unrepresented parties” in family court.
“What the court told the parties and the profession is that they can’t simply come to the court, say they’re out of money, and expect to have amicus appointed,” he said. “True amicus are really independent agents there to assist the court and not to act as advocates for the parties.”
Read the full The Lawyer's Daily article here.
People
-
A partner in the firm’s Family Law Group, Daniel is a Certified Specialist in Family Law by the Law Society of Ontario, as well as an experienced, sought-after family law mediator and arbitrator. View bio
