Which family cases require an application for mediation before filing, and what happens if a filing is made without one?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file we read the case papers showing whether the matter is a Class Na or Da family litigation case or a Class Ma family non-contentious case, any mediation application already filed, and the records of summoning the parties, since one ground of the proviso turns on whether one side or both sides can be summoned other than by public notice, and the other ground turns on whether the court finds the case could not be settled even if referred to mediation.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading holds that a person intending to bring an action or petition for adjudication to a family court in a Class Na or Da family litigation case, or a Class Ma family non-contentious case, must apply for mediation first; where a filing is made without such an application, the family court shall refer the case to mediation.
Another reading turns on the proviso: the court need not refer the case where, by no method other than public notice, one side or both sides of the parties cannot be summoned, or where the court finds the case could not be settled even if referred, and the provision leaves open how that finding is reached on the papers.
Your judgment
On the file as it stands, how could a party show that the case is one of the listed classes, or that mediation could not succeed even if referred?
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 list of case classes or the exceptions are amended, or if a court decision explains when a family court may find that mediation could not be concluded even if the case were referred.