Category Family Justice

British Columbia Law Institute Reports Recommend Changes to B.C.’s Child Protection Legislation

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The British Columbia Law Institute’s (BCLI’s) Child Protection Project Committee has published two reports aimed at: (i) providing recommendations for reforms to the child protection framework; and (ii) reviewing legislation related to youth aging into the community.

The “Report on Modernizing the Child, Family and Community Service Act” provides an extensive review of British Columbia’s child protection statute, offering 39 recommendations for reform and draft sample legislation. The “Study Paper on Youth Aging into the Community” provides guidance on transition planning, relationship-based support, education support, and housing support for young people who were under care of the child protection system and have reached the age of maturity. The “Report on Modernizing the Child, Family and Community Service Act” and the “Study Paper on Youth Aging in the Community” bring the work of the Child Protection Project Committee to a close.

“Report on Modernizing the Child, Family and Community Service Act” is available on the BCLI website here: https://www.bcli.org/publication/92-report-on-modernizing-the-child-family-and-community-service-act.

“Study Paper on Youth Aging into the Community” published by the British Columbia Law Institute is available here: https://www.bcli.org/publication/study-paper-on-youth-aging-into-the-community.

Parliamentary Committee Report Explores the Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Canadian Immigration

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“Immigration in the Time of COVID-19: Issues and Challenges” is a new report from the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM). The report explores the impacts of the pandemic on Canada’s immigration system, with particular emphasis on family reunification, the parent and grandparent program, and impacts for international students and foreign nationals with expired documents. The parliamentary committee report includes 38 recommendations for consideration by the House of Commons, including:

  • A fully digitized system that also maintains the option for paper applications (Recommendation 1);
  • Increasing financial supports for settlement services to facilitate digital literacy and access to digital tools (Recommendation 3);
  • Implementing measures to permit permanent residents with expired permanent resident cards who have faced renewal issues because of the pandemic to return to Canada (Recommendation 4); and,
  • Prioritizing the processing of family reunification applications in cases where family members are protected persons (Recommendation 8).

The CIMM Committee report is available in English here:  https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-2/CIMM/report-5/. The report is available in French here: https://www.noscommunes.ca/DocumentViewer/fr/43-2/CIMM/rapport-5.

Annual Action Committee Report Highlights Progress on Access to Justice and Justice Sector Responses to the Pandemic

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The national Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters has released its annual progress report on the Justice Development Goals. The report offers insights on developments in nine areas deemed essential for better access to justice in Canada. The nine areas are based on the goals identified in the Action Committee’s 2013 “A Roadmap for Change” report which highlighted the need to:

  • Refocus the justice system to reflect and address everyday legal problems
  • Make essential legal services available to everyone
  • Make courts and tribunals fully accessible multi-service centres for public dispute resolution
  • Make coordinated and appropriate multidisciplinary family services easily accessible
  • Create local and national access to justice implementation mechanisms
  • Promote a sustainable, accessible and integrated justice agenda through legal education
  • Enhance the innovation capacity of the civil and family justice system
  • Support access to justice to promote evidence-based policy making
  • Promote coherent, integrated and sustained funding strategies

This year’s Action Committee report also includes a section on the justice sector’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Canada’s Justice Development Goals 2020: Challenge and Change” is available in English here: http://www.justicedevelopmentgoals.ca/sites/default/files/jdgreport2020challengechange.pdf.

Pour télécharger << Objectifs de développement en matière de justice du Canada de 2020 : Défis et changements >> cliquez ici : http://www.justicedevelopmentgoals.ca/sites/default/files/odjrapport2020defichangements.pdf.

Canadian Judicial Council Publishes 3 New Handbooks for Self-Represented Litigants

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The Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) has announced the publication of a new Civil Law Handbook, Criminal Law Handbook and Family Law Handbook for self-represented litigants. According to a May 5th press release, “[t]he goal of the handbooks is to help those who are not represented by legal counsel to better prepare for court proceedings, and to provide judges with tools they can recommend to such persons to help them access the courts.”

The handbooks were developed in conjunction with the Judicial Education Society of British Columbia and provide useful information on how to obtain electronic access to statutes, regulations and forms.

The three new handbooks are available on the CJC website in English here: https://cjc-ccm.ca/en/what-we-do/initiatives/representing-yourself-court and in French here: https://cjc-ccm.ca/fr/ce-que-nous-faisons/initiatives/se-representer-soi-meme-devant-un-tribunal.

CBA Report Examines Justice Issues Resulting from the COVID-19 Pandemic

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A new report by the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) examines various impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the delivery of legal services in Canada. The report is the result of consultations and research carried out by the specially formed CBA Task Force on Justice Issues Arising from COVID-19.

The “No Turning Back” report includes a discussion of the ways that Canada and other countries are meeting the justice challenges presented by the pandemic through modified processes and other justice system changes. The report also presents a discussion of ways to mitigate risks that might be associated with the adoption of new measures aimed at delivering justice in the midst of the pandemic.

No Turning Back: CBA Task Force Report on Justice Issues Arising from COVID-19 is available online here: https://www.cba.org/CBAMediaLibrary/cba_na/PDFs/Publications%20And%20Resources/2021/CBATaskForce.pdf.

New CBABC Report Outlines Ways to Improve BC’s Justice System

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The Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch (CBABC) has published Agenda for Justice 2021, a plain language report that outlines recommendations for more timely, effective, accessible and impartial justice for all British Columbians. The report includes more than 40 recommendations and is organized into the following sections:

(1) Access to Justice for Families
(2) Meaningful Change for Indigenous Peoples
(3) Modernizing BC’s Justice and Legal Systems
(4) Ensuring Fairness for Everyone

The CBABC’s Agenda for Justice 2021 roadmap for action report is available online here: https://www.cbabc.org/Our-Work/Agenda-for-Justice.

Rise Women’s Legal Centre Publishes New Report on Family Violence in B.C.

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A new report by B.C. based Rise Women’s Legal Centre examines the province’s family law system and its responsiveness to family violence matters. Research was carried out over 3 years and includes both consultations with experts, and focus group interviews with women across more than 20 communities in B.C. who had lived experience of violence and the legal system.

The report makes several recommendations for improvements that will contribute to dispelling myths and stereotypes. The report also discusses the need for a better understanding of the seriousness of both physical and non-physical violence.

Why Can’t Everyone Just Get Along? How BC’s Family Law System Puts Survivors in Danger by Haley Hrymak and Kim Hawkins, and published by Rise Women’s Legal Centre is available online here: https://www.citynews1130.com/2021/02/05/b-c-s-family-law-system-fails-abused-women-puts-survivors-in-danger-report/.

American Academy of Arts & Sciences Publishes Civil Justice for All Report

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A new report from the American Academy of Arts & Sciences urges making access to civil justice a priority and offers recommendations to close the civil justice gap. The report, which was launched on 24 September 2020, is part of an extensive, multi-year project to examine the extent and consequences of the inability of Americans to access legal help for civil justice matters.

The newly published Civil Justice for All report offers seven recommendations:

  1. Significant financial and human resources investments to close the civil justice gap
  2. More lawyers who work to address the needs of low-income earners
  3. More lawyers who offer pro bono and other volunteer assistance
  4. Open legal marketplaces to allow non-lawyers to help resolve civil justice problems
  5. More collaboration between legal service providers and professionals in other sectors to address the non-legal dimensions of problems
  6. Make legal processes, legal information, forms and other resources easier for the public to understand and access
  7. Create a central body to coordinate and promote the recommendations above and to gather much-needed civil justice data

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront many of the weaknesses in American civil society. It has also brought new challenges and worsened the civil justice gap. A major initiative to ensure access to civil justice is urgently needed to help address this growing problem.

Civil Justice for All: A Report and Recommendations from the Making Justice Accessible Initiative is available online here: https://www.amacad.org/publication/civil-justice-for-all.

New Book Examines What is Working and Not Working to Improve Access to Civil and Family Justice

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The Justice Crisis: The Cost and Value of Accessing Law edited by Trevor C.W. Farrow and Lesley A. Jacobs is a newly published book that provides an in-depth look at what is working and not working to improve access to civil and family justice in Canada.

The Justice Crisis uses new empirical research to explore the value associated with the provision of an effective justice system and the costs – individual and collective – of not providing accessible justice. The national and international importance of and the need for this kind of research is widely acknowledged.

Contributors to The Justice Crisis: The Cost and Value of Accessing Law include: Carolyn Carter, Thomas A. Cromwell, Ab Currie, Matthew Dylag, Trevor C.W. Farrow, Heather Heavin, Lesley A. Jacobs, Devon Kapoor, Michaela Keet, Jennifer Koshan, Herbert M. Kritzer, Moktar Lamari, Marylène Leduc, M. Jerry McHale, Lisa Moore, Janet Mosher, Pierre Noreau, Mitchell Perlmutter, Catherine Piché, Noel Semple, Lorne Sossin, Michael Trebilcock, Wanda Wiegers and David Wiseman.

The book’s foreword is written by The Honourable Thomas A. Cromwell, CC.

The Justice Crisis: The Cost and Value of Accessing Law is part of the 7-year Cost of Justice project led by the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice. The Cost of Justice project was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

The Justice Crisis: The Cost and Value of Accessing Law was published by UBC Press and is available here: www.ubcpress.ca/the-justice-crisis.

View the press release for The Justice Crisis: The Cost and Value of Accessing Law online here: https://news.yorku.ca/2020/09/02/new-evidence-on-the-justice-crisis-making-the-case-for-reform/.

Investing In Justice Saves More Money Than It Costs – New CFCJ Report

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The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice (CFCJ) has published a major report that examines the return on investment in access to justice in several regions, including North America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, Australia and Asia. The report concludes that, “across a diversity of justice programs, services and mechanisms around the world, spending on justice results in significant economic and other benefits that generally significantly exceed the value of the investment.” In most cases, the rate of return on investment in justice services and programs is between CAD $9 and $16 for every CAD $1 that is spent.

This new report is one of ten international background reports commissioned by the Task Force on Justice to help inform their efforts towards equal access to justice for all by 2030 (UN Sustainable Development Goal 16.3).

Investing in Justice – A Literature Review in Support of the Case for Improved Access is available for download on the CFCJ website here: https://cfcj-fcjc.org/wp-content/uploads/Investing-in-Justice-A-Literature-Review-in-Support-of-the-Case-for-Improved-Access-by-Lisa-Moore-and-Trevor-C-W-Farrow.pdf.