Jurisdiction

AuthorJulien D. Payne; Marilyn A. Payne
Pages18-32
18
CHAPTER 2
JURISDICTION
A. JUDICIAL JURISDICTION OVER APPLICATIONS FOR CHILD SUPPORT
ON OR AFTER DIVORCE
Sections , , , and  of the Divorce Act def‌ine the jurisdictional competence of a cour t
to entertain an origi nal application for a child support order on or after divorce or an ap-
plication to vary an existing child support order. Where a court issui ng a divorce has not
adjudicated the issue of child support, provincial leg islation is a valid means of seek ing a
child support remedy.
B. EVIDENCE; PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
Although the Parliament of Can ada has exclusive legislative authority over the substantive
law of divorce under section () of the Cons titutio n Act, , control over the applic able
laws of evidence and over matters of practice and procedure are delegated to the provinces
by sections  and  of the Divorce Act.
e def‌inition of “court” in section () of the Divorce Act renders it permissible for the
Lieutenant Governor in Council of a province to designate a Unif‌ied Fami ly Court that
is presided over by federally appointed judges as a court of competent jurisdiction for all
purposes of the Divorce Act. In addition, the def‌inition of “appellate court” in section (),
coupled with the provisions of sections () and (), enable the provinces to determine
See Julien Payne & Ma rilyn Payne, Canadi an Family Law, th ed (Toronto: Irwin Law, ), ch . And
see Canada, Depa rtment of Justice, Legis lative Background: An act t o amend the Divorce Act, the Family
Orders and Agreem ents Enforcement Act and the Garn ishment Attachment and Pen sion Diversion Act
and to make conseq uential amendments to ano ther Act (Bill C-) ( January ), online: www.justice.
gc.ca/eng/r p-pr/f‌l-lf/fa mil/c/.ht ml, now SC , c ; see also Ca nada, Department of Justice , e
Divorce Act Changes E xplained, online: w w w.jus tic e.g c.c a/en g/f‌l- df /cf‌l-m df/d ace -cl de/i nde x.h tml
Cheng v Liu,  ONCA  at para , Hourigan JA.
(UK),  &  Vict, c .
 See Gal v Gal, [] OJ No  (Div Ct); see Section H, below in t his chapter.

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