Formal Cases: Investigation

scales After the interview and when all documents are received and competence is established, the Respondent is notified. Since the purpose of the investigation is to determine whether or not the consent was valid, the investigation is focused on the time of marriage. Questions prior to and after the exchange of vows will also give insight to the validity of the exchange of consent.

The first notification to the Respondent by this Tribunal is by means of certified mail so the Tribunal can be assured the Respondent is aware of the process. The Respondent is encouraged to participate and to propose witnesses.

All witnesses listed by the Petitioner are "cited". The judge in the case would like to have the story of the marriage from all perspectives in order to be confident in developing a just decision.

All of the Petitioner's Witnesses are sent questionnaires specific for this case. The Petitioner must follow up with the witnesses to ensure that they respond. The Tribunal will tell the Petitioner which witnesses have or have not responded, but it is up to the Petitioner to do the follow up. The case may not be able to proceed to the judgment process until all of the Petitioner's witnesses have responded. However, if the Respondent asks to have witnesses cited, the witnesses are also given a reasonable amount of time to respond.

Once all of the testimony has been received, the Petitioner's Advocate will review the material to try to determine if additional investigation is required. The Advocate may request additional testimony from existing or new witnesses and/or request input from a Court Expert. If not, the case can proceed to judgment.

Once the grounds have been set, both you and the Respondent are asked to answer questions about those grounds. This may be done by a questionnaire, a personal interview, or a telephone conversation. The witnesses you named are sent a letter inviting them to answer a questionnaire. Any witnesses named by the Respondent will be contacted as soon as they are submitted.
The longest delay in most cases is the time it takes for witnesses to respond to the Tribunal. It helps your case if you contact each of your witnesses personally and encourage them to reply quickly and thoroughly. Upon request, the Tribunal can send an electronic version of any questionnaire to a case party or witness for easier completion.
Once testimony has been received, and if the judges think it will be helpful to them in understanding the case, you or the Respondent or witnesses may be asked to answer a few more questions in writing, in person or over the telephone. Depending on the grounds, you and/or the Respondent may be asked to meet with the Tribunal psychologist for an interview to offer insight into the marriage.
The Tribunal does not normally re-contact witnesses who have not responded, but, we inform you if we have waited more than two months with no response from your witnesses.
Once the testimony has been gathered, one of the judges reviews this evidence and writes to you either to:

Ask for more witnesses or information if additional evidence is needed; or
Notify you and the Respondent that you may review the evidence in the case. This is normally done at the Tribunal with your Advocate present. You may choose simply to have your Advocate summarize the testimony for you over the phone instead.

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Formal Cases: Judgment