A movement to restorative justice?

When we venture into transformative mediation and the collaborative divorce processes we are clearly embracing the restorative justice model.

When family law cases were first heard by courts litigation was the only choice in how we would resolve conflict. As courts became overwhelmed, mediation began to take hold to help reduce overloaded court dockets. As mediation models evolved it became clear that we could not only settle present conflict, we could minimize future disputes as well.

As mediation techniques have evolved parents are learning how to listen, understand and respond to one another. Parents can repair estranged relationships to the point necessary to co-parent. So we now are embracing a model that seems to fall completely outside the traditional litigation model.

So what does the future have in store for the litigation model in divorce cases? Will litigation be reduced to resolving family violence cases OR situations involving an emergency?

The answer may simply come down to how we allocate court resources to resolve family law disputes. Do we allocate the majority of legal resources to help parents repair estranged relationships OR do we continue down the path of increased litigation and conflict? Only time will tell.

Politics and special interests aside, the cost-benefit solution points obviously to engaging a majority of divorcing parents through the restorative model.