Month April 2025

Canadian Journal of Law and Society Publishes Special Issue on People-Centred Justice

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A new open access special issue on people-centred justice has been published by the Canadian Journal of Law and Society. The issue covers almost a dozen topics including:

  • People-Centred Justice: Reimagining Law, Institutions and Process by Andrew Pilliar and Michelle Lawrence
  • People-Centered Justice in International Assistance: Rule-of-Law Path Dependencies or New Paths to Justice for All? by Adrian Di Giovanni and Maaike De Langen
  • Person-Centred Justice and Dispute Resolution: The Potential of Lay Courts by Jérémy Boulanger-Bonnelly
  • Towards People-Centered Justice: The Conflict Resolution Routes of People Facing Legal Problems by Megan Capp and Yvon Dandurand
  • Using Social Media as a Tool to Inform Person-Centred Justice by Matthew Dylag
  • Court Form Accessibility: Adopting, Designing and Evaluating Online Guided Pathways by Amy Salyzyn, Jacquelyn Burkell, Esti Azizi and David Westcott
  • Welfarism and People-Centred Justice by Noel Semple

The special issue is available online here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/canadian-journal-of-law-and-society-la-revue-canadienne-droit-et-societe/issue/1A0FBAF126BB8296AC0466ACA65CB67C.

Ontario’s Court of Appeal and Pro Bono Ontario Announce Amicus Program for Self-Reps

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The Court of Appeal of Ontario and Pro Bono Ontario have announced that Pro Bono Ontario’s Amicus program will once again be running at the Court of Appeal.

As part of the re-launched Amicus program, lawyers volunteering with Pro Bono Ontario “will act as duty counsel and appear as amicus curiae, or ‘friends of the court’, on a pro bono (free) basis”. This service will be available to self-represented litigants at Ontario’s Court of Appeal on Wednesdays.

To read the announcement on the Court of Appeal website, visit: https://www.ontariocourts.ca/coa/pro-bono/.

Quebec Announces $80M to Improve Access to Justice

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Quebec’s Ministry of Justice, together with the Chambre des notaires du Québec and the Barreau du Québec have announced a commitment of $80 million through 2029 to support better access to justice for Quebecers.

A significant percentage of this funding will support access to justice for self-represented litigants, with priority given to litigants in family, civil, and youth protection disputes. Specifically, funding will support the deployment of lawyers and notaries in courthouses to assist self-represented parties and in community organizations “to improve the front-line services on offer”.

An infographic published by Quebec’s Ministry of Justice provides insight on the spending breakdown for the first tranche of funding:

  • $10 M to support projects aimed at improving access to justice. A call for project proposals is forthcoming.
  • $21 M to support timely access to legal support from lawyers and notaries at courthouses.
  • $17.3 M to support the deployment of lawyers and notaries in community-based organizations (such as, for example, consumer or tenant rights organizations).

The press release by Quebec’s Justice Ministry is available here (French only): https://www.quebec.ca/nouvelles/actualites/details/le-ministre-de-la-justice-la-chambre-des-notaires-du-quebec-et-le-barreau-du-quebec-concluent-une-entente-historique-80-millions-de-dollars-pour-favoriser-lacces-a-la-justice-62254.

The infographic outlining first-round spending priorities is available here (French only): https://cdn-contenu.quebec.ca/cdn-contenu/adm/min/justice/programmes/justice-citoyens/PUB_Napperon_Entente_MJQ.pdf.

A news article discussing Quebec’s $80 M access to justice commitment is available (in English) here: https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/04/15/quebec-support-citizens-represent-themselves-court/.

New Brunswick Announces Digital Revamp of Courts

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New Brunswick’s government has announced spending of $32 million over six years to improve access to justice in the province’s court system. The funding is primarily aimed at technological upgrades.

A Law360 Canada article discussing the investment provides details on how the funding will be spent. Specifically, the first $5 million is aimed at kick-starting the revamp and will support new technology, like a new case management system to integrate the three levels of courts in the province. The investment will also support technological enhancements within courtrooms, such as better video conferencing, better quality court recordings, and more seamless presentation of digital evidence.

New Brunswick is also investing an additional $1.4 million to augment the province’s legal aid tariff.

New Brunswick’s announcement outlining investments in courts and legal aid is discussed in detail in this news article: https://www.law360.ca/ca/pulse/articles/2321525/new-brunswick-investing-in-start-of-courts-digital-upgrade

Canadian Judicial Council Publishes Review of Complaints Report

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The Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) has published a report on the “Review of Complaints About Federally Appointed Judges” for the period from January – December 2024. The judicial conduct review process “provides a means for the public to voice concerns about judges, while giving those judges an opportunity to respond to those concerns”. The CJC reviews all complaints of misconduct involving any federally appointed judges. The following are some of the topics and information included in the report:

  • Information on the Administration of the Judicial Conduct Regime
  • Overview of the Disclosure of Information in Complaint Matters
  • Caseload for 2024
  • Details about the Judicial Conduct Committee of Council
  • Information on how laypersons are involved in reviewing complaints
  • Commentary on the Link Between Judicial Conduct and Education, Ethics, and Judicial Independence
  • Complaint Summaries

The report is the first by the CJC to cover a full calendar year of complaints reviewed by the oversight body.

The Canadian Judicial Council Annual Report on the Review of Complaints About Federally Appointed Judges is available in English here: https://cjc-ccm.ca/sites/default/files/documents/2025/CJC_ComplaintsReview2024_e.pdf.

Le rapport annuel du Conseil canadien de la magistrature sur l’examen des plaintes au sujet des juges de nomination fédérale est disponible en français ici : https://cjc-ccm.ca/sites/default/files/documents/2025/CJC_ComplaintsReview2024_f.pdf.