Section 7.8 — Divorce Act: Purpose of section

The purpose of this section is to facilitate the identification of orders, undertakings, recognizances, agreements or measures that may conflict with an order under this Act; and the coordination of proceedings. In a proceeding for corollary relief and in relation to any party to that proceeding, the court has a duty to consider if any of the following are pending or in effect, unless the circumstances of the case are of such a nature that it would clearly not be appropriate to do so: a civil protection order or a proceeding in relation to such an order; a child protection order, proceeding, agreement or measure; or an order, proceeding, undertaking or recognizance in relation to any matter of a criminal nature. In order to carry out the duty, the court may make inquiries of the parties or review information that is readily available and that has been obtained through a search carried out in accordance with provincial law, including the rules made under subsection 25(2). In this section, civil protection order means a civil order that is made to protect a person’s safety, including an order that prohibits a person from being in physical proximity to a specified person or following a specified person from place to place; contacting or communicating with a specified person, either directly or indirectly; attending at or being within a certain distance of a specified place or location; engaging in harassing or threatening conduct directed at a specified person; occupying a family home or a residence; or engaging in family violence.