Ottawa Men's Centre

 

Peter Roscoe's Research

 

                             Gender Bias in Family Law at the

                 Court of Appeal Ontario 2007

 

 

 

      Peter Karl Roscoe

 

    Apr 2006, Revised Sept 2007

 

 

                                                           Conclusions

 

 

Judicial Discrimination Indexes

 

 

 

Rank

          Judge

% Female Wins

% Male .Wins

Discrimination .      Index

Standard Deviations

 

 

 

 

 

 

    1

Charron JA

        80.6

        12.2

        68.5

 

    2

Abella JA

        66.7

        10.2

        56.5

 

    3

Macpherson JA

        70.9

        14.4

        56.5

 

    4

Weiler JA

        70.8

        14.4

        56.4

 

    5

Feldman JA

        73.0

        17.6

        55.4

 

    6

Blair JA

        64.0

        13.9

        50.1

 

    7

Lang JA

        63.2

        14.7

        48.5

 

    8

Goudge JA

        67.9

        21.0

        46.9

 

    9

Moldaver JA

        59.7

        14.0

        45.7

 

   10

Carthy JA

        63.5

        18.6

        44.9

 

   11

Catzman JA

        71.4

        28.5

        42.9

 

   12

Cronk JA

        61.3

        18.9

        42.4

 

   13

Labrosse JA

        62.7

        20.5

        42.2

 

   14

Gilese JA

        68.3

        27.5

        40.8

 

   15

Rosenburg JA

        61.0

        21.7

        39.3

 

   16

Doherty JA

        55.7

        20.0

        35.7

 

   17

Juriasz JA

        58.3

        23.2

        35.1

 

   18

Rouleau JA

        51.6

        17.1

        34.5

 

   19

Sharpe JA

        53.0

        18.7

        34.3

 

   20

Macfarland JA

        63.0

        28.9

        34.1

 

   21

Borins JA

        55.4

        22.0

        33.4

 

   22

O’Connor DCJO

        56.1

        23.2

        32.9

 

   23

McMurtry ( CJO )

        56.9

        24.4

        32.5

 

   24

Armstrong JA

        52.3

        27.6

        24.7

 

   25

Simmons JA

        45.8

        24.7

        21.1

 

   26

Laskin JA

        42.2

        31.1

        11.1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Median

    41.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mean

     41.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Standard Deviation

     12.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

Issue Discrimination Indexes

 

 

 

Custody

 Access

Mobility

 Spousal

 Support

  Child

 Support

Equalization

Other

Costs

Court Total

% Female Wins

   64.3

   60.0

    60.0

     67.8

    55.0

       51.6

  49.3

   62.5

  60.1

% Male Wins

     3.6

   25.0

    18.1

     24.7

    29.1

       23.2

  25.2

   15.4

  20.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discrimination Index

   60.7

   35.0

   41.9

    43.1

    25.9

      28.4

  24.1

   47.1

  40.1

 

 

 

 

Yearly Discrimination Indexes

 

 

          Year

% Female Wins

  % Male Wins

   Discrimination .       ..       Index

     Standard             .    Deviation

 

 

 

 

 

    Pre 1996 (partial)

        57.8

          18.5

          39.4

 

          1996

        66.7

          15.6

          51.1

 

          1997

        58.6

           25.0

          32.8

 

          1998

        58.1

           11.8

          46.3

 

          1999

        64.4

           22.1

          42.2

 

          2000

        48.0

           15.6

          32.4

 

          2001

        64.0

             9.7

          54.3

 

          2002

        73.9

           31.0

          42.9

 

          2003

        63.2

           23.1

          40.1

 

          2004

        57.9

           14.9

          43.0

 

          2005

        63.6

           19.3

          44.5

 

          2006

        58.4

           30.5

          27.9

 

          2007 (partial)

        47.7

           23.1

          24.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

           Mean

        60.1

          20.0

          40.1

 

          Median

        58.6

          19.3

          42.2

 

  Standard Deviation

          7.1

             6.5

            8.7

 

 

 

 

It can be concluded that the statistical record for over 10 years of family law decisions at the Court of Appeal for Ontario shows positive discrimination against men in all categories when analyzed by judge, appeal issue, and year. The court adds 7.1 % discrimination in costs on top of the inequity on decisions on appeal issues. Cost penalties themselves are over 57 % higher for men. The data would even indicate female lawyers are preferred over male. Only one case can be found where a self represented male has ever

 won when opposed by a lawyer. The court average is a discrimination rate of 40 %, or 3 female wins for every male. For some specific issues such as custody the rates may be quite a bit higher.