Australian Report Suggests National Legal Aid Program on the Brink of Collapse

November 27, 2023November 28, 2023ajrn1 Leave a comment

A new report prepared by Impact Economics and Policy for National Legal Aid (Australia) highlights funding and other challenges that have left the nation’s legal aid services in a state of crisis. According to the report, “Australia’s justice system is in crisis because people can’t access it, and the program designed to [e]nsure access is buckling under the weight of growing demand and shrinking supply.”

In 2014, a major report recommended an additional $200 million per year in funding for legal aid to address unmet legal need. The funding was not provided. Since the 2014 report, however, there has been a 3 per cent per capita cut in government funding for legal aid services. The result is that many, mostly disadvantaged groups in Australia lack adequate access to legal representation and services. Funding gaps are especially critical for matters related to civil and family law.

The cost of unresolved legal problems in Australia – including costs related to lost income, health impacts and seeking redress – is estimated to be between $11 billion and $66 billion in 2023. The compares to an estimated cost of $484 million to adequately fund Legal Aid in 2023. The annual estimated benefit derived from investing in Legal Aid is $639 million.

Justice on the Brink: Stronger Legal Aid for a Better Legal System is available online here: https://ajrn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/0f02e-justiceonthebrink.pdf.

New Report Examines Court Injunctions Against Homeless Encampments in B.C.

November 27, 2023November 27, 2023ajrn1 Leave a comment

A worsening crisis in homelessness in B.C. has resulted in an increase in the number of homeless encampments on public lands. Encampments can be a source of shelter, support, and safety among unhoused people. While B.C.’s courts have recognized that it is unconstitutional to evict people seeking shelter on publicly-owned lands overnight if they cannot be accommodated in shelters, people experiencing homelessness will often lack daytime shelter or somewhere to store their belongings. The result is “a vicious cycle of continual displacement” in which unhoused people are often forced to pack up and move daily.

“Rush to Judgement”, a new report from the Centre for Law and the Environment and Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia presents findings from a comprehensive review of reported court decisions on injunctions against homeless encampments on publicly-owned lands in B.C. The report focuses on interlocutory and final injunctions from 2000 to 2022. Notably, a majority of decisions during this period were interlocutory injunctions (20 out of 24). The report underscores that, in most cases, an interlocutory injunction will mark the end of a case since it usually means that the government has achieved its goal of legally evicting encampment residents.

The report reveals that:

There is an 85% success rate for applications for interlocutory injunctions against homeless encampments in B.C.
Only about 25% of applications for final injunctions are successful
In some cases, interlocutory decisions apply a relaxed legal test that “minimizes or ignores the issues of irreparable harm and balance of convenience”

The full report, Rush to Judgement: A Critical Survey of Court Injunctions Against Homeless Encampments in BC, 2000-2022 is available online here: https://allard.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/2023-10/Rush%20to%20Judgment%20Report%20Oct%202023.pdf.

Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society Announces Launch of Innovation Sandbox Pilot Project

October 24, 2023October 24, 2023ajrn1 Leave a comment

Following approval at a November 2022 Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society Council meeting, the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society officially launched the Innovation Sandbox Pilot Project on October 24, 2023. The goal of the Innovation Sandbox Pilot Project is to foster “creative and novel solutions to access to justice issues across Nova Scotia”.

By removing regulatory barriers that would otherwise delimit participant law firms from engaging in certain projects, the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society seeks to provide a space for the development of new kinds of legal service delivery that will improve access to justice in the province. Initiatives undertaken through the Innovation Sandbox Pilot Project can focus on embracing new technologies, business models, or funding structures beyond the parameters of industry norms.

At present, the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society is working with three participants as a pilot, with a view to putting in place a structure to monitor and accept applications from more firms.

To learn more about the Innovation Sandbox Pilot Project and how it could help improve access to justice in Nova Scotia, please visit: https://nsbs.org/society-news/a2j-week-innovation-sandbox-aims-to-improve-access-to-justice/.

Information for this post was gleaned from: https://nsbs.org/society-news/a2j-week-innovation-sandbox-aims-to-improve-access-to-justice/.

Healthcare Based Housing Initiative Set to Launch at Toronto’s University Hospital Network

October 17, 2023October 17, 2023ajrn1 Leave a comment

According to a 2021 Statistics Canada report, more than 235,000 people in Canada experience homelessness in a given year. Research from the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice (CFCJ) confirms connections between everyday legal problems and costs to the basic security of individuals in terms of loss of employment and loss of housing. Research further shows that factors such as access to safe, good quality housing can have significant impacts on the health of individuals and populations.

Social determinants of health – the understanding that housing, income, and food security are critical components of a health society – are central to a new initiative by Toronto’s University Health Network (UHN). UHN is now close to completing Toronto’s first community of supportive housing units, which includes more than 50 units. UHN clinicians will be able to prescribe housing to patients who do not have housing or who are in unstable living situations, with the potential that patients may live in one of these units. UHN also aims to provide residents with access to community support workers. Rent payments for residents were determined considering that many may be Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) recipients or otherwise have a limited income.

Information about this initiative was gleaned from “This Ontario hospital network is prescribing housing to patients-and building homes on its property” by Kevin Smith, published in Maclean’s Magazine (October 10, 2023): https://macleans.ca/society/health/prescriptive-housing-uhn/.

To learn more about social adversity and everyday legal problems, see Social and Economic Adversity Experienced by Canadians and Everyday Legal Problems by Ab Currie and Lisa Moore: https://cfcj-fcjc.org/wp-content/uploads/Social-and-Economic-Adversity-Experienced-by-Canadians-and-Everyday-Legal-Problems-Ab-Currie-Lisa-Moore.pdf.

To learn more about multidisciplinary legal problem resolution, see Crossing Boundaries: Exploring Multi-Disciplinary Models for Legal Problem Resolution by Lisa Moore: https://cfcj-fcjc.org/wp-content/uploads/Crossing-Boundaries-Exploring-Multi-Disciplinary-Models-for-Legal-Problem-Resolution-by-Lisa-Moore.pdf.

Ground-breaking U.S.-Based Research Compares SRL Experiences in Civil Proceedings Online and In-Person

October 12, 2023October 12, 2023ajrn1 Leave a comment

New research from an interdisciplinary team from Indiana’s Coalition for Court Access provides insights into the experiences of self-represented litigants (SRLs) in-person relative to experiences online. It is among the first studies in the U.S. to gather empirical evidence on the impact of remote technologies on vulnerable and self-represented individuals in civil proceedings. This research comes at a time when many courts are deciding whether to continue to use remote technologies introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic or return fully to in-person proceedings. The research uses a people-centered approach to highlight litigant’s views on this question.

The final report discusses self-represented individuals’ experiences and views on remote hearings vs. in-person proceedings in several areas: (i) Preferences; (ii) Procedural Justice; (iii) Distributive Justice; (iv) Structural Affordances and Barriers; (v) Technological Affordances and Barriers; and (vi) Social Psychological Affordances and Barriers.

A significant percentage of self-represented litigants in the study agree that online civil courts enhance access to justice for individuals without legal representation, particularly for parties navigating high-volume civil dockets. A large percentage of self-represented litigants indicated that they would like to be able to access court remotely in the future. Among study participants, remote proceedings were largely viewed positively, improved individuals’ experiences of procedural justice and outcome satisfaction, and “provided notable conveniences, and decreased the stress of attending court in person”.

The final report, Accessing Justice with Zoom: Experiences and Outcomes in Online Civil Courts by Victor D. Quintanilla, Kurt Hugenberg, Ryan Hutchings & Nedim Yel is available online here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xfb052SVZRTIwv8-03xQyX9UzFjcvcul/view.

Dalhousie Law School Students Launch Website on Indigenous and Aboriginal Law

September 25, 2023September 25, 2023ajrn1 Leave a comment

Students at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University have launched a website to help “demystify aspects of Indigenous and Aboriginal law”. The website, named abajignmuen, which is a Mi’kmaw word that means “sharing” and “giving back” to the community, will highlight the work of Schulich Law students, faculty and staff in the areas of Aboriginal and Indigenous law.

The website will host access to justice projects and papers, which may also serve as a public resource to better understand matters related to Aboriginal and Indigenous law.

For more information, visit www.abaji.ca.

Public Legal Education Association of Canada Annual Conference Takes Place October 25–26, 2023

September 25, 2023September 25, 2023ajrn1 Leave a comment

The Public Legal Education Association of Canada (PLEAC), the national umbrella organization for public legal education and information (PLEI) groups across Canada, will hold their annual conference this year in Toronto from October 25^th to 26^th.

The conference will include workshops, plenaries, and townhall sessions on a range of topics, including: “The Role of Community Workers and Other Trusted Helpers in the Justice Ecosystem”, “Artificial Intelligence: How to Harness it (for good) for Public Legal Education”, and “Advocating for Better Justice: Does Public Legal Education Have a Role?”

Attendance is capped at 150 people.

To learn more about the conference, how to register, conference fees and more, visit the PLEAC website here: https://www.pleac-aceij.ca/our-work/annual-conference/.

Women and Gender Equality Canada Publishes Two Calls for Proposals

September 25, 2023September 25, 2023ajrn1 Leave a comment

Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) has two open calls for proposals. WAGE invites non-for-profit organizations, women’s organizations, Indigenous women’s organizations, or other equality-seeking organizations in Canada with a mandate to advance women’s equality to submit a proposal for a capacity-building or systemic change project.

Under Call 1 – the Women’s Economic and Leadership Opportunities Fund – WAGE seeks to support projects that address barriers to women’s success, change systems to improve women’s economic security and prosperity, and/or increase women’s representation.

Under Call 2 – Women’s Capacity Fund – WAGE welcomes proposals for projects that seek to develop the long-term capacity of women’s and Indigenous women’s organizations.

The submission deadline is November 3, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. pacific time. Eligible organizations can apply to one call.

For information on eligibility requirements or more information about the calls, please visit the WAGE website here: https://women-gender-equality.canada.ca/en/funding/funding-programs/women-economic-leadership-opportunities-capacity-funds/about.html.

Women in Law Reflect on Challenges, Triumphs, and Regrets in New Book

September 17, 2023September 17, 2023ajrn1 Leave a comment

A new collection, edited by Beth Bilson (University of Saskatchewan, College of Law), Leah Howie (Law Reform Commission of Saskatchewan), and Brea Lowenberger (Saskatchewan’s Access to Justice Coordinator), presents the experiences of 18 women navigating law school and legal careers. Contributors – who are from different generations and different areas of law – discuss various issues they have faced in their journey in law and the impacts of gender-based and race-based discrimination, sexual orientation, and disability in their careers.

The foreword for this collection is written by The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin.

Creating a Seat at the Table: Reflections from Women in Law is available for pre-order: https://uofrpress.ca/Books/C/Creating-a-Seat-at-the-Table.