Which court hears a child protection case, and do the place of the act, the residence and the present location of the child abuse perpetrator all ground jurisdiction separately?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file we read the petition or application in the child protection case, the papers showing where the abusive act took place, and the documents evidencing the perpetrator's residence or present location, since each of these is a connecting factor the provision names.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the three connecting factors as alternatives: jurisdiction lies with the family court for the place of the act, the residence, or the present location of the child abuse perpetrator, and where a family court is not established in that area, with the district court for the area, branches included.
Another reading notes that the provision bases jurisdiction only on the perpetrator's connections and does not state which court prevails when the place of the act, the residence and the present location fall in different districts, so it leaves the choice among competing family courts unsettled.
Your judgment
If the place of the act, the residence and the present location lie in three different districts, what in the file could show which family court the case was properly filed in?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to add a connecting factor or to rank them, or if a court decision sets how concurrent jurisdiction among family courts for child protection cases is resolved.