About a year ago, a delegation of judges from the Judicial Yuan of Taiwan (that country’s highest judicial branch) made a visit to Toronto to explore the process by which justice is dispensed in Canadian family law courts. According to the official report, the purposes for this fact-finding mission were to “meet with esteemed colleagues” and “learn from experiences… dealing with juvenile justice and family court issues.”
During their visit, the delegation met with many of Canada’s highest-profile and most experienced legal professionals in the realm of family law, including Brian Ludmer of Ludmer Law. For about 90 minutes, Ludmer participated in a discussion with them about the Canadian family law system, its strengths and weaknesses, and answered many of their questions, drawing from his more than three decades of experience. The discussion was fruitful, and both the delegation of judges and Brian Ludmer came away richer for having engaged with each other.
The eight judges comprising the delegation were led by Chief Judge Chow Jien, Seh-Jiau of Taiwan’s High Court – Kaohsiung Branch, but also included:
- Chief Judge Chung, Tsung-Lin of Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Juvenile and Family Court, who was nominated as Director General of the Juvenile and Family Department of Judicial Yuan as of July 1, 2024.
- Judge Huang, Pei-Jen of Taiwan’s High Court.
- Judge Lee, Chen-Chi of Taiwan’s Shilin District Court.
- Judge Kuo, Yao-Ming of Taiwan’s Shilin District Court.
- Judge Chen, Yi-An of Taiwan’s Shilin District Court.
- Judge Wu, Kun-Ta of Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Juvenile and Family Court.
- Judge Cheng, Mei-Lin of Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Juvenile and Family Court.
After concluding their visit, the judges published their findings in a formal report, which can be found here: Report
Brian Ludmer appears in the official report several times, on pages 62, 65, and 66. A great proponent of not only using the levers of justice to find child-focused solutions in family law, but also of international co-operation between legal officials, Ludmer is always enthusiastic about sharing his breadth of knowledge to help improve judicial understanding on the global stage.
Besides running his own firm, Ludmer Law, Brian Ludmer is a staunch advocate for children and families. He is a co-founder of Lawyers for Shared Parenting, an international advocacy group for protecting children’s relationships with both parents, and the co-author of The High-Conflict Custody Battle, a guide to managing legal challenges posed by separation and divorce while prioritizing the well-being of any children involved. Additionally, he also helped draft the language for Bill C-560, which sought to establish a presumption of equal shared parenting throughout Canada.
Below are some photos of the Taiwanese delegation enjoying their trip to Toronto:
