THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

82

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

H.D. 1

   


SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING THE AUDITOR TO CONDUCT AN AUDIT OF THE FAMILY COURT SYSTEM.

 

WHEREAS, section 571-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, states in relevant part that chapter 571 "shall be liberally construed to the end that children and families whose rights and well-being are jeopardized shall be assisted and protected, and secured in those rights through action by the court . . ."; and

WHEREAS, section 571-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, created the Board of Family Court Judges and states in relevant part that "the board may . . . seek the consolidation of the statistical and other data on the work and services of [the family] courts and research studies that may be made of the problems of families and children dealt with by such courts . . . . The board may also formulate recommendations for remedial legislation . . . ."; and

WHEREAS, the family courts are tasked with attempting to sift through and resolve what are often contentious, emotionally charged, and difficult issues between divorcing spouses, or blood relatives, or rival siblings, or litigious parties, or all of the above; and

WHEREAS, the family court process is grounded upon an adversarial process, the outcome of which may be that one party will "prevail" while the other will "lose" on the merits of the underline issue or issues; and

WHEREAS, notwithstanding the inherent nature of the adversarial process, many users of the Hawaii's family courts have lost confidence in the court as a fair arbiter of the issues presented; and

WHEREAS, the root causes for this perceived unfairness remain elusive, but are sustained by anecdotal evidence. Moreover, this perception is becoming more widespread and its growth is such that the integrity of the Hawaii family court may soon be compromised, thus contravening the public policy imbedded in section 571-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature has a keen interest in working with the Judiciary, the Hawaii State Bar Association, and the affected parties to address the perceived unfairness, and, if objectively verified, to take appropriate and immediate steps to remedy the problem within the constraints of available resources; and

WHEREAS, resolving the perceived unfairness, if verified, is consistent with the Judiciary's ongoing effort to improve the delivery of court services, and to improve customer service and satisfaction; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2002, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Auditor is requested to perform an audit of the family court system; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the scope of the audit is requested to include whether the family court has a formalized complaints process, and if so, the following information, listed by circuit:

(1) The number of complaints lodged against the family court system for the past three years;

(2) The basis for each complaint;

(3) Whether similar complaints have been lodged;

(4) If so, the nature and number of those repeated complaints within the last three years;

(5) Whether the complaints reached any resolution;

(6) Whether the party initiating the complaint was satisfied with that resolution; and

(7) If the party was not satisfied with the resolution of the complaint, the reasons therefor; and not;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in conducting the audit, the Auditor is requested to consult with: (1) the Board of Family Court Judges; (2) the Hawaii State Bar Association; (3) all professional organizations whose members are appointed by the Hawaii family court to assist the court in adjudicating family law cases; and (4) parties that have appeared before the First, Second, Third, and Fifth Circuits of the family courts, such consultation to include accepting and addressing any additional written complaints for a reasonable period; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Family Court Judges, the Hawaii State Bar Association, and all professional organizations whose members are appointed by the Hawaii family court to assist the court in adjudicating family law cases are requested to meaningfully cooperate with the Auditor; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to work with the Board of Family Court Judges created under section 571-5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to develop proposals, including legislative proposals, to implement recommendations to formalize a complaints process, in none exists, and to remedy the perceived unfairness, if any; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Auditor is requested to report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the Regular Session of 2003; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Auditor, the Board of Family Court Judges, the Hawaii State Bar Association, and all professional organizations whose members are appointed by the Hawaii family court to assist the court in adjudicating family law cases.

Report Title:

ASSESSMENT OF THE HAWAII FAMILY COURT SYSTEM.