Yukon Law Society Report Examines Access to Lawyers throughout the Yukon

August 19, 2024August 19, 2024ajrn1 Leave a comment

A new report by the Law Society of Yukon’s Access to Justice Committee explores access to lawyers who reside and practice in the Yukon, in people-centred practice areas. Members of the Access to Justice Committee visited 13 communities throughout the Yukon and spoke with representatives about the challenges experienced when trying to access the justice system. The Committee also reviewed national data, and local data from legal information organizations and the Yukon law courts. Information in the Access to Justice Committee’s report is further informed by three surveys administered by the Committee.

Findings from these sources suggest that people in the Yukon do not have adequate access to lawyers. In particular, there are few lawyers and legal resources available outside of Whitehorse. According to the report, “the lack of legal resources suggests inequities in accessing lawyers across communities.” The report also identifies specific challenges related to: knowing when and how to contact a lawyer, a lack of civil law lawyers, case volume and delays in circuit court, not enough legal aid coverage, and a lack of cultural awareness or integration in the community.Access to Justice in the Yukon: Access to Lawyers, a report by the Law Society of Yukon’s Access to Justice Committee is available in English here: https://lawsocietyyukon.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/A2J-Report-Access-to-Lawyers-July-5-2024.pdf.

Justice Canada Publishes Report Examining Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution in Family Law

August 16, 2024August 16, 2024ajrn1 Leave a comment

In 2023, the Department of Justice Canada launched a study aimed at examining government-funded out-of-court dispute resolution services for families experiencing a separation or divorce in Canada. The study focuses on better understanding the following questions:

What are the mediation or conciliation services or programs offered by provinces and territories to resolve family law issues?
How are outcomes measured? What does a successful or partially successful outcome look like? Partially successful outcome?
Which factors are consistent across jurisdictions?

The final report includes a summary of program features, details on COVID-19 pandemic response and other changes to programs, service metrics and discusses the potential for further research.

The recently published report on “Out-of-court dispute resolution for families experiencing separation or divorce in Canada” is available in English here: https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/dispute-differends/docs/rsd_rr2023_out-of-court-dr-eng.pdf.

Justice Canada Launches Survey on Federal Child Support Guidelines

August 14, 2024August 14, 2024ajrn1 Leave a comment

Child support in Canada is calculated using child support guidelines. Child support guidelines comprise of rules and tables used to determine child support amounts. The Federal Child Support Guidelines are regulations under the Divorce Act that apply when parents divorce or are divorced. There are also provincial and territorial child support guidelines that apply when married parents separate but do not divorce, or when the parents were never married to each other.

The Department of Justice has launched a survey to gather feedback on possible changes to the Federal Guidelines. The survey focuses on two main areas of the Federal Guidelines:

Determining child support amounts in shared parenting time arrangements and
Compliance with income disclosure obligations.

The survey will take roughly 15 minutes to complete. The deadline to participate in the survey is September 25, 2024. Responses will be anonymous.

To access the survey, visit: https://form.simplesurvey.com/f/s.aspx?s=42c6ed2c-8127-47a7-b3a7-f264c5d32a92.

To access a PDF version of the survey, contact: rsd.drs@justice.gc.ca.

Some information in this post was taken verbatim from an e-blast circulated by Justice Canada.

New UK-Based Report Examines Economic Value of Free Legal Advice

August 6, 2024August 6, 2024ajrn1 Leave a comment

A report commissioned by the UK-based Access to Justice Foundation and the Bar Council of England and Wales presents new insights on the economic value of the free advice sector in the United Kingdom. The new report recognizes impacts of inflation, rising energy and food prices, and the cost-of-living crisis on the need for legal advice.

The main objectives of this research include:

Provide current estimates of the direct economic benefits of the free legal advice sector to government finances.
Examine the possible impacts of free legal advice on reducing costs and backlogs in the court and tribunal service.
Weigh the possible need for free legal advice in the longer term.

Key findings include:

The provision of free specialist legal advice saves the Treasury approximately £9,100 per case.
For every £1 spent on free specialist legal advice and its outcomes in 2023, there was a saving to government of £2.71.
Advice provision helps to ease pressure on courts and tribunals through improved efficiency and fewer litigants in person.
Despite the positive impact on government finances and positive knock-on impacts, advice providers say the free legal advice sector is at a ‘breaking point’, with funding failing to meet current demand or expected future demand.

The Value of Justice for All: Evaluating the Case for Funding the Free Specialist Legal Advice Sector report was prepared by Pragmatix Advisory. The August 2024 Value of Justice for All report is available online here: https://atjf.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/The-value-of-justice-for-all-a-report-for-the-Access-to-Justice-Foundation-and-the-Bar-Council-from-Pragmatix-Advisory.pdf.

U.S. Survey Highlights Misconceptions about Access to Civil Justice

August 6, 2024August 6, 2024ajrn1 Leave a comment

Recently published findings from an online survey in the U.S. reveal that more than half of adults mistakenly believe they are entitled to legal representation for civil legal matters if they cannot afford representation. Among adults ages 18-34, the figure is higher with approximately two thirds of adults in this age range believing they are entitled to legal representation for civil legal matters. The survey also indicates that approximately 59% of people who experienced a civil legal matter within the past three years did not seek help from a lawyer.

The online survey was carried out from July 11 to July 15 with 2,096 adult (18+) respondents in the U.S. The survey was commissioned by the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) and conducted by The Harris Poll. To learn more about the survey, visit: https://www.lsc.gov/press-release/more-half-americans-mistakenly-think-they-have-right-attorney-all-civil-cases.