Vol. 149, No. 13 — July 1, 2015

Registration

SOR/2015-156 June 17, 2015

DIVORCE ACT

Regulations Amending the Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings Regulations (Miscellaneous Program)

P.C. 2015-823 June 17, 2015

His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice, pursuant to subsection 26(1) of the Divorce Act (see footnote a), makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings Regulations (Miscellaneous Program).

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE CENTRAL REGISTRY OF DIVORCE PROCEEDINGS REGULATIONS (MISCELLANEOUS PROGRAM)

AMENDMENTS

1. Subsection 3(2) of the Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings Regulations (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

(2) A record of divorce proceedings in Canada shall be maintained in the central registry and shall consist of the information that is provided to it in accordance with sections 4 and 7.

2. (1) Clause 4(1)(b)(iv)(A) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

• (A) the spouse’s role in the proceeding, namely applicant, joint applicant or respondent,

(2) Subparagraph 4(2)(b)(i) of the French version of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

• (i) le numéro du tribunal qui transfère l’action en divorce et le numéro d’enregistrement que ce tribunal a attribué à l’action en divorce,

(3) Subparagraphs 4(2)(b)(ii) and (iii) of the Regulations are replaced by the following:

• (ii) the court number of the new court, the province in which it is located and the new divorce registry number assigned to the divorce proceeding,
• (iii) the date on which the divorce proceeding was transferred,

(4) Clause 4(2)(b)(v)(A) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

• (A) the spouse’s role in the proceeding, namely applicant, joint applicant or respondent,

3. (1) Subsection 5(1) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

5. (1) On receipt of the information provided in accordance with section 4, the central registry shall

• (a) determine whether any information is missing and, if it is, or if it appears that any information is incorrect, request that the registrar provide the central registry with the missing or correct information;
• (b) check the record referred to in subsection 3(2) to determine whether the divorce registry number is in sequence and, if it is not, request that the registrar, within seven days after the day on which the request is made, provide the central registry with the reason that it is not in sequence or correct the number; and
• (c) enter the information, once complete and seemingly correct, into the record referred to in subsection 3(2).
  

(2) The portion of subsection 5(2) of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

(2) On receipt of the information referred to in paragraph 4(1)(b), the central registry shall check the record referred to in subsection 3(2) to determine whether any other divorce proceedings are pending between the spouses referred to in that information or whether a divorce has already been granted in respect of the marriage for which the application for divorce was filed and,

(3) The portion of paragraph 5(2)(a) of the French version of the Regulations before subparagraph (i) is replaced by the following:

• a) dans le cas où une autre action en divorce est en cours, il envoie un avis à cet effet :

(4) Paragraph 5(2)(c) of the French version of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

• c) dans le cas où aucune autre action en divorce n’est en cours et qu’aucun divorce n’a été prononcé, il envoie un avis à cet effet au greffier du tribunal où la demande a été déposée.

(5) Subsection 5(4) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(4) If the divorce proceeding has not been discontinued or dismissed and no judgment granting the divorce in respect of the divorce proceeding has taken effect, the central registry, on the request of the registrar of the court of competent jurisdiction, shall renew the notification referred to in paragraph (2)(c) and send the renewal of the notification to that registrar.

4. Paragraph 6(b) of the French version of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

• b) si deux actions en divorce sont en cours entre les époux désignés dans l’avis ou qu’un divorce a été prononcé à leur égard, informe l’époux qui a déposé la demande de divorce de l’existence de l’autre demande ou du jugement.

5. (1) The portion of subsection 7(1) of the French version of the Regulations before paragraph (b) is replaced by the following:

7. (1) Lorsqu’il s’agit d’une action en divorce transférée à un autre tribunal, le greffier du tribunal qui la transfère fournit au Bureau d’enregistrement, dans les sept jours suivant le transfert, les renseignements suivants :

• a) le numéro du tribunal qui transfère l’action en divorce et le numéro d’enregistrement que ce tribunal a attribué à l’action en divorce;

(2) Paragraph 7(1)(b) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

• (b) the province in which the court to which the divorce proceeding was transferred is located and, if known, the court number of that court; and

(3) The portion of subsection 7(2) of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

(2) Within seven days after a discontinuance of a divorce proceeding or the taking effect of a judgment dismissing or granting an application for divorce, the registrar of the court of competent jurisdiction shall provide the central registry with the following information:

(4) Paragraph 7(2)(c) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

• (c) the outcome of the divorce proceeding — discontinuance or a judgment dismissing or granting the application for divorce — and the date on which the proceeding was discontinued or the judgment took effect.

COMING INTO FORCE

6. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issues

This proposal addresses points of clarification and consistency raised by the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations on the Regulations Amending the Central Registry Proceedings Regulations (SOR/2013-169) made in 2013.

Background

The primary role of the Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings (CRDP) is to detect duplicate divorce proceedings and to inform courts whether or not another divorce application has been filed for the same marriage or whether a judgment has already been granted in respect of the same marriage.

The CRDP was established in 1986 within the Department of Justice through the Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings Regulations (the Regulations) made pursuant to paragraph 26(1)(a) of the Divorce Act. These Regulations were last amended on September 30, 2013, through the Regulations Amending the Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings Regulations. Amendments were made primarily to increase the efficiency of the registration of divorce proceedings process with the CRDP by making the required registration form shorter and available electronically. The registration form, which was previously only available in paper format, can now be completed online by the court registrar. For some jurisdictions, there is also the possibility of electronic exchange of information once the appropriate technology has been established between the jurisdiction and the CRDP.

In January 2014, the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations (the Joint Committee) raised various points about the amended Regulations which were either editorial in nature, points of clarity, or issues of consistency between the terms used in English and French. In order to allow for clearer Regulations, the Department of Justice is proceeding with a number of minor amendments suggested by the Joint Committee.

Objectives

Amendments to the Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings Regulations are required to provide clarity on recent amendments, reconcile slight discrepancies between the English and French versions and to make editorial corrections resulting in clearer Regulations.

Description

The Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings Regulations establish the CRDP and provide an operational framework for the registry.

The amendments are not substantive in nature. In most cases, the amendments involve either adding or removing a word or adjusting the word order. Other cases involve correcting minor inconsistencies between the French and the English versions. The amendments do not affect any of the administrative procedures required by the CRDP.

Section 3

Section 3 of the Regulations establishes the Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings (CRDP) and its role. Subsection 3(2) of the Regulations is amended to remove the word “pending” in order to clarify that the registry contains information that is provided to it in accordance with the Regulations and contains more than just “pending” information.

Section 4

Subsection 4(1) establishes what the registrar of a court must do upon receipt of a divorce application and the information that it must provide to the CRDP. Clauses 4(1)(b)(iv)(A) and 4(2)(b)(v)(A) are amended to replace the expression “the fact that the spouse is a joint applicant, the applicant or the respondent” with “the spouse’s role in the proceeding, namely applicant, joint applicant or respondent.” This amendment clarifies that the registrar will provide information specifying what particular role each spouse has in the divorce application.

Subsection 4(2) sets out the information that must be provided to the CRDP by the registrar of a court to which a divorce application was transferred while subsection 7(1) sets out the information that must be provided to the CRDP by the registrar of a court transferring a divorce application.

• — The French version of the expression “qui lui a été attribué” of subparagraph 4(2)(b)(i) is amended to be consistent with the English version and to make it clear that the number referred to in this provision is the number that was assigned by the court who originally received the file. To maintain consistency, the same change was made in paragraph 7(1)(a).
• — Subparagraphs 4(2)(b)(ii) and (iii) have been amended to make it clear that the CRDP needs to be informed of the province where the new court is located even if the court is still in the same province. A similar change has been made in paragraph 7(1)(b) to ensure consistency.

Section 5

Subsection 5(1) sets out what the CRDP must do upon receipt of a divorce registration form. The provision was restructured so that the CRDP can request missing information and can do so not dependent on whether the divorce registry number is missing, incorrect, or out of sequence.

Subsection 5(2) describes the CRDP’s detection process to check whether there are any duplicate divorce proceedings for the same spouses or whether either spouse has already been granted a divorce. This subsection was amended to add the words “in respect of the marriage for which the application for divorce was filed” to clarify that the detection process only applies to the marriage for which the application for divorce was filed.

• — The French version of paragraph 5(2)(c) has also been amended to replace the “ou” with an “et” to be consistent with the English version. This amendment clarifies that the CRDP provides the parties with notification (often referred to as “a clearance certificate”) where the two conditions are met, i.e. there are no duplicate proceedings and no divorce has already been granted.

Subsection 5(4) was amended to confirm the intent of the provision which is that the certificate would not be renewed if there has already been a judgment granted. The word “or” was replaced with “and” to ensure that the notification can only be renewed if the divorce proceeding has not been discontinued, dismissed and no judgment has been granted.

Section 6

Section 6 sets out what the registrar of a court must do upon receipt of notification from the CRDP. The French version of paragraph 6(b) has been modified to clarify that this provision does not refer in general to a divorce application, but rather to the specific divorce application being filed. This amendment ensures consistency with the English version.

Subsection 7(1)

This subsection sets out what information must be provided by the registrar of a court that is transferring a file to another court and the timeframe to do so.

In addition to the amendments stated above that brings consistency with amendments in section 4, a typographical error was corrected in the French version. The expression “Lorsqu’il agit d’une action en divorce” has been corrected for “Lorsqu’il s’agit d’une action en divorce.”

Subsection 7(2)

This subsection sets out what information must be provided by the registrar of a court when a divorce proceeding has been discontinued or a judgment has taken effect and the timeframe to do so.

The expression “the taking effect of a judgment in respect of a divorce proceeding” used in the opening sentence of this subsection was replaced by “a judgment dismissing or granting an application for divorce.” The amendment was made to clarify that the registrar of a court’s obligation to provide the specified information to the CRDP arises only when the proceeding is discontinued or when there has been a judgment that dismisses the application or the divorce is granted. This amendment ensures consistency with language used elsewhere in the Regulations and avoids possible ambiguity as to its meaning.

An amendment to the English version of paragraph 7(2)(c) was also made to clarify that the registrar of a court is being asked to let the CRDP know the particular outcome of the case, as opposed to informing the CRDP only of “the fact” that a case was concluded. This amendment is necessary only in the English, since the French wording is clear in its meaning.

Finally, the French version of the Regulations was amended to adopt a consistent approach to the French version of the expression “granting the application for divorce.”

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply to these amendments, as there is no change in administrative costs to business.

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply to these amendments, as there are no costs to small business.

Consultation

Those affected by these Regulations are the provincial and territorial court registrars. Since the amendments are not substantive in nature and are being made to address clarification type issues raised by the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations, consultation was not undertaken.

Rationale

These amendments improve the Regulations by correcting various inconsistencies between the French and the English versions, as well as making clarifications to certain provisions as suggested by the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

The current amendments are technical in nature and do not change the nature of the Regulations that were implemented in 2013.

Contact

Diana Andai
Counsel
Family, Children and Youth Section
Department of Justice
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0H8
Fax: 613-952-9600
Email: Diana.Andai@justice.gc.ca

• Footnote a
  R.S., c. 3 (2nd Supp.)
• Footnote 1
  SOR/86-600; SOR/2013-169