What is the standard of review applicable to discretionary decisions in family law cases?

British Columbia, Canada


The following excerpt is from Venables v. Venables, 2019 BCCA 281 (CanLII):

This framing of the issue is in recognition of the highly deferential standard of review applicable to discretionary decisions where no error of law or principle is alleged, as enunciated in Friends of the Oldman River Society v. Canada (Minister of Transport), 1992 CanLII 110 (SCC), [1992] 1 S.C.R. 3. Deference is particularly necessary in family law cases to promote finality: see Hsieh v. Lui, 2017 BCCA 51 at para. 38. The goals of increased certainty and decreased litigation in family disputes will be undermined if appellate courts routinely interfere in the exercise of discretion by trial judges.

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