---

Nicholas C. Bala Professor L.S.M., B.A. (Toronto), LL.B. (Queen's), LL.M. (Harvard) Faculty of Law Queen's University Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6 tel: 613-533-6000, ext 74275 fax: 613-533-6509 e-mail: bala@queensu.ca

---

Teaching Subjects

• Advanced Family Law
• Children's Law
• Clinical Family Law
• Family Law
• Contracts

Recent Professional Achievements 

• Principal investigator of interdisciplinary group of researchers on child witness issued with funding from Social Sciences & Humanities research Council since 1999
• Co-author of recent reports for government of Canada on family violence, legal status of polygamy, child witnesses and child support
• Co-author of recent reports for government of Ontario on the Office of Child Advocacy, experts in child welfare cases and child abuse deaths
• Frequently presenting to professional groups on issues relating to family and children's law, for such organizations as National Judicial Institute, Federation of Law Societies, Ontario Bar Association and Law Society of Upper Canada
• Co-winner of Queen's University Prize for Excellence Research in 2006, and twice winner of Law Students Society teaching award.
• Winner of Association of Family & Conciliation Courts Distinguished Research Award, 2008
• Ontario Bar Association, Award for Excellence in Family Law, 2009
• Law Society Medal, 2009
• Work cited by all levels of court in Canada, including 27 times by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Current Research

I am currently working on several projects in the Family and Children's law field on the role of the justice system and the government in the lives of families and children; a number of these projects have interdisciplinary aspects. I continue to do work related to child witnesses with psychologists, as well as with mental health experts on issues of alienation in parental separation cases. I am also undertaking a project with a social work professor on judicial interviews of children. I am also involved with the National Judicial Institute in judicial education planning and programming on youth justice issues and family violence cases. I was the lead author on a paper for Status of Women Canada on polygamy and its relationship to same-sex marriage. In 2009 I completed the second edition of my book on youth justice law. I am also continuing to do work with members of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Queen's on legal, social and health care responses to spousal abuse.

A number of my recent projects have international or comparative aspects, and I have done work with justice system professionals and scholars in a number of countries, including the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong.

I also continue to do work in Contract Law, and I have just completed a new edition of a co-edited casebook in this field, which is used at a number of Canadian law schools, including Queen's.

Recent Publications

Books

• Bala, Zaph, Williams, Vogl & Hornick eds., Canadian Child Welfare Law: Children, Families & The State, 2nd edition (2004), Thompson Educational Publishers, Toronto (454 pages). (Funding support from Canadian Research Institute for Law and The Family).
• Fidler,Bala, Birnbaum, & Kavassalis, Challenging Issues In Child Custody Assessments: A Guide For Legal And Mental Health Professionals (Toronto, Carswell, 2008). (385 pages).
• Bala & Anand, Youth Criminal Justice Law(2nd edit), Toronto, Irwin Law, 2009.
• Swan, Reiter & Bala, Contracts: Cases, Notes & Materials (8th edit.), Butterworths, Toronto, 2010

Reports for Governments and Non-Governmental Organizations

• Bertrand, Hornick Paetsch & Bala, Phase 2 of the Survey of Child Support Awards: Final Report ( Department of Justice Canada, March 2005)
• Jaffe, Crooks & Bala, Making Appropriate Parenting Arrangements in Family Violence Cases: Applying the Literature to Promising Practices (Department of Justice Canada, 2006)
• Bala, Duvall-Antonacopoulos, MacRae & Paetsch, An International Review of Polygamy: Legal and Policy Implications for Canada (Ottawa: Status of Women Canada, 2006)
• Bala & Leschied, A Report on Court-ordered Assessments in Child Welfare Proceedings in Ontario: Review and Recommendations for Reform (Ontario Ministry of Children & Youth Services 2006)
• Bala and Trocmé, "Challenges of Determining Death in Child Abuse Cases: Child Welfare Issues," (Goudge Commission, Ontario, 2007)
• Paetsch, Bertrand,Walker, MacRae & Bala, Consultation On The Voice Of The Child At The 5^th World Congress On Family Law And Children's Rights, (National Judicial Institute and Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, for Department of Justice Canada, 2009).
• Bala, Paetsch, Bertrand & Thomas, Testimonial Support Provisions for Children and Vulnerable Adults (Bill C-2):Case Law Review & Perceptions of the Judiciary, Canadian Research Institute for Law & the Family, for the Department of Justice Canada (2009)

Articles

• Shaffer &Bala,"Developments in Family Law: The 2005-2007 Terms" (2007), 38Supreme Court Law Review (2^nd) 405 - 436.
• Bala, Jaffe & Crooks, "Spousal Violence and Child-Related Cases: Challenging Cases Requiring Differentiated Responses" ( 2007), 27 Canadian Family Law Quarterly 1- 113.
• Jaffe, Crooks & Bala, "Seeking a Road Less Traveled: Reconsidering the Journeys Taken by Victims of Domestic Violence in Family Court" (2009), 6(3) Journal of Child Custody 169-188.
• Bala, "R v  D.B.: The Constitutionalization Of Adolescence" (2009), 47 Supreme Court Law Review211-234.
• Bala & Leschied, "Court-Ordered Assessments In Ontario Child Welfare Cases: Review And Recommendations For Reform" (2008), 24 Canadian Journal of Family Law 1-56.
• Bala, "An Historical Perspective on Family Violence & Child Abuse" (Oct. 2008), 14 Journal of Family Studies271-278.
• Jaffe, Johnston, Crooks & Bala, "Custody Disputes Involving Allegations of Domestic Violence: The Need for Differentiated Approaches to Parenting Plans" (2008), 46 Family Court Review500-522.
• Bala, "Youth as Offenders and Victims in the Criminal Justice System: A Charter Analysis - Recognizing Vulnerability," (2008) 40 Supreme Court Law Review595-625; also chapter in J. Cameron & J. Stribopoulos eds., The Charter and Criminal Justice: Twenty-Five Years Later (Toronto: LexisNexis, 2009).
• Cesaroni & Bala, "Deterrence as a Principle of Youth Sentencing: No Effect on Youth, but a Significant Effect on Judges" (2008) 34 Queens L.J. 447-481.
• Bala, Carrington & Roberts, "Evaluating the Youth Criminal Justice Act After Five Years - A Qualified Success," (2009), 51(2) Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice 131-168.
• Birnbaum & Bala, "The Child's Perspective on Legal Representation: Young Adults Report on Their Experiences with Child Lawyers" (2009), 25 Canadian Journal of Family Law 11- 71.
• Bala, A. Evans & E. Bala, Hearing the Voices of Children in Canadas Criminal Justice System: Recognizing Capacity and Facilitating Testimony (2010), 22 Child & Family Law Quarterly(U.K.) 21-45.
• Bala, S.Hunt & C.McCarney, "Parental Alienation: Canadian Court Cases 1989-2008" (2010), 48 Family Court Review162-177.
• Fidler &  Bala, Children Resisting Post-Separation Contact With a Parent: Concepts, Controversies and Conundrums (2010), 48 Family Court Review 10-47.
• Birnbaum & Bala, "Towards the Differentiation of ‘High Conflict' Families: An Analysis of Social Science Research and Canadian Case Law" (2010), 48:3 Family Court Review 403-416
• Bala, "Why Canada's Prohibition of Polygamy is Constitutionality Valid and Sound Social Policy" (2010), 25 Canadian Journal of Family Law 165-221.
• Bala, Lee, Lindsay, Talwar, "The Competency of Children to Testify: Psychological Research Informing Canadian Law Reform" (2010), 18(1) International Journal of Children's Rights53-77.
• Leach, Lindsay, Beaudry, Bala, Lee & Talwar, "The Reliability of Lie Detection Performance" (forthcoming 2010) Law & Human Behavior.

Book chapters

• Bala, "Same-sex Marriage in Canada: The Evolution of a Fundamental Social Institution", Lynn Wardle & Camille Williams eds., Family Law: Balancing Interests and Pursuing Priorities, (Buffalo, N.Y.: Hein, 2007) p. 166- 177.
• Bala & Roberts, "Canada's Juvenile Justice System: Promoting Community-Based Responses to Youth Crime" Junger-Tas & Decker, ed,s International Handbook of Juvenile Justice (Springer Publishing, Netherlands, 2006) , p.37-63; excerpted as Bala & Roberts, "Restraining the Use of Custody for Young Offenders: The Canadian Approach," von Hirsch, Ashworth & Roberts, Principled Sentencing: Readings on Theory and Policy(Hart Publishing, Oxford UK: 2009) 338-341.
• Bala, "Entitlement to Spousal Support: Asking the Hard Questions," in Martha Shaffer, ed., Contemporary Issues in Family Law: Engaging with Legacy of James G. McLeod(Toronto: Carswell, 2007) p. 235-258.
• Bala, "Who is A Parent? Standing in the Place of a Parent & Section 5 of the Child Support Guidelines," in Law Society of Upper Canada, Special Lectures 2006: Family Law(Toronto: Irwin Law, 2007), p. 71-118.
• Jaffe, Crooks & Bala, "Spouse Abuse and Child Custody Disputes: The Need for a New Framework for the Family Court," in Tutty & Ursel eds, What's Law Got to do With It: The Law, Specialized Courts and Domestic Violence in Canada, (Cormorant Press, Toronto, 2008) p. 254 - 271.
• Crooks, Jaffe & Bala, "Factoring in the effects of children's exposure to domestic violence in determining appropriate post-separation parenting plans," in M. Hannah and B. Goldstein, eds, Domestic Violence, Abuse, and Child Custody: Legal Strategies and Policy Issues(Kingston, NJ: Civic Research Institute, 2010), p. 22-2 to 22-25.
• Bala, "Child Welfare Law in Canada," Chapter 1 in K. Kufeldt & B. McKenzie, Child Welfare: Connecting Research, Policy and Practice ,2^nd edition (Wilfrid Laurier Press, forthcoming, 2010. )
• Bala, "Expert Evidence, Assessments and Judicial Notice: Understanding the Family Context," in H. Niman & A. Volikis, editors, Evidence in Family Law Cases (Aurora, Ont.: Canada Law Book, 2010) p 5-1 to 5-84.