Professor Nick Bala, winner of the 2022 Dena Moyal Distinguished Service Award for his “gold star standard, exemplary by any measure” contributions to the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts’ Ontario chapter and to the greater family justice system. (Photo by Bernard Clark)
Professor Nick Bala, winner of the 2022 Dena Moyal Distinguished Service Award for his “gold star standard, exemplary by any measure” contributions to the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts’ Ontario chapter and to the greater family justice system. (Photo by Bernard Clark)

For his “gold star” contributions to the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts - Ontario (AFFC-O) and the greater family justice system, Professor Nick Bala is this year’s winner of the Dena Moyal Distinguished Service Award. The award will be presented to him at the Ontario chapter’s annual conference in Toronto on Oct. 14. 

“It is a real honour to have my contributions to this multidisciplinary organization of family justice professionals recognized,” says Bala. “The many collaborative projects that I have done with the organization, some involving Karla McGrath at our Family Law Clinic and Queen’s Law students, have had significant impacts, improving the family justice system and outcomes for children and parents, not only in Ontario but in other jurisdictions as well.”

Most recently, in response to the 2021 amendments to the Divorce Act, Bala led a project to provide guidance to judges, lawyers, mediators, counsellors, and parents for making post-separation arrangements for children’s care. His team prepared the AFCC-O Parenting Plan Guide and Template to help make agreements and court orders that are developmentally appropriate for children of different ages.

Findings on the use of these materials from a research project he undertook with Professor Rachel Birnbaum (Western, Social Work) were published recently in the International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family. Their research clearly reveals the value of the work, as well as offering suggestions for future revision. The materials are also being cited regularly by judges as a resource to help make decisions in contested cases. For example, in her 2022 decision in Hatab v. Abuhatab, Justice Melanie Kraft wrote: “The Parenting Plan Guide has been found by many courts to be of great assistance in determining parenting schedules that are in a child’s best interests, depending on the age of the child and his/her developmental stage. While not binding on the courts, the Guide provides a great deal of helpful information and reflects a professional consensus in Ontario about the significant of current child development research for post-separation.”

“In short,” as the AFFC-O’s citation states, “Professor Bala’s contributions to AFCC-O and to the greater family justice system are a gold star standard, exemplary by any measure.”

Read more about the work for which Bala is receiving the Moyal Award on the AFFC-O website.