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In the 19th Century, English Philosopher Jeremy Bentham warned against secrecy in the administration of justice: “Where there is no publicity there is no justice. Publicity is the very soul of justice. It is the keenest spur to exertion and the surest of all guards against improbity. It keeps the judge himself while trying under trial.” Those words still ring true today. In countries sharing the common law tradition, the open courts principle is a fundamental, indeed a constitutional principle. Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, P.C. |
My name is Jan Uttl, I have been involved in protracted series of court cases in the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta since 2013 to present. It all started in the summer of 2013, when Ms. Rensonnet, my now ex-partner, sent me an email that she decided to separate.
Ms. Rensonnet started a Family Law Action Rensonnet v. Uttl, FL01-17010, by an ex-parte application, while she was in Europe with the boys and I was in Canada.
Ms. Rensonnet also stopped paying for work I have been doing for her, her company Rensonnet Ventures Inc. and her sometimes client, sometimes employer, Ducharme, McMillan and Associates Ltd. After asking and waiting to be paid for nearly a year, in June 2014, I filed a claim Biomea Inc. v. Anne Rensonnet, Rensonnet Ventures Inc. and Ducharme, McMillan & Associates Canada Ltd., 1401-05840. In the Fall of 2016, I got a judgment against Anne Rensonnet for over $3000. It was a far cry from the claim amount, because I had to litigate with both hands tied, as Justice Horner ignored my repeated requests for defendants to produce records, and the defendants simply did not produce any.
Ms. Rensonnet and her renters, Cory and Kara Clifton, have stopped to pay their share of utilities. After asking for utility payments for nearly a year, I filed a claim, Jan Uttl v. Cory Clifton, Kara Clifton and Anne Rensonnet, 1401-05866. Justice Horner has heard my summary judgment application in the Fall of 2016, and I got a judgment against Anne Rensonnet for some $1600.
All three actions were case managed by Honourable Justice Horner, and case management counsel, Ms. Christopher. There were maybe a dozen of hearings before Justice Horner, many fraught with irregularities, such as Ms. Rensonnet not filing evidence, Ms. Rensonnet filing and serving her affidavits day before the hearing, etc. Being an inexperienced self-represented litigant, I was looking for sources of information, and found them very thin. I have initially hired a lawyer in the Family Law Action (considering kids future too important to screw it up myself in the court). After spending money on two lawyers, and getting no significant results, I had to start self-representing.
This website intends to expose the court process for what it is, describe the mistakes I made so others can hopefully learn from them, and maybe even wake up enough people that we collectively pressure our legislators to change the archaic parenting laws. The Justices siting today were born some 50 years ago, when the norm was mom at home and dad going to work. That is their starting point, and it introduces enormous bias into the process.