Recommendations of the Committee to Study Family Issues in the Arizona Superior Court

Abstract

Justice 2002, a strategic agenda for the Arizona court system over the next five years, has the goal to build public trust confidence in the Arizona courts. A focus of Justice 2002 is the protection of children, families, and communities. One of the number of projects that have been initiated is the establishment of The Committee to Study Family Issues in the Superior Court (Committee). On October 22, 1997, Chief Justice Thomas A. Zlaket established the Committee and charged the members to: “[E]xamine the manner in which cases involving family issues, including cases involving minor children, presently are processed and determined in the Superior Court,… leading to improvement in the manner in which these cases are resolved in the court system; and report to the Arizona Judicial Council its findings and recommendations…” This article is a summarization of the Final Report presented to the Arizona Judicial Council (AJC) in December, 1998. The reader will find that the report is rather general. The Committee has functioned under the assumption that an implementation committee would be formed to work out the details, should the AJC choose to adopt the recommendation to establish a Family Court in Arizona.

Nonjudicial Influence on Family Violence Court Cases

“…In some cases, they may get representation by a guardian-ad-Litem who must report on what is in their best interests, not their wishes if they differ. A problem-solving family court based on TJ can help children become a party in their parents' divorce and custody decisions by creating a safe space within the court using trained professionals to participate with them (Bryan, 1999;McMahon, 2003;O'Neil & Schneider, 1999;Schepard & Bozzomo, 2003;Tesler, 1999). The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989 both supported the need for a cohesive family and also emphasized the need to facilitate the growing independence and autonomy of the child, demonstrating it is possible to do both at the same time.…”