Category British Columbia

Action Committee Meeting of Provincial and Territorial Access to Justice Groups

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On March 13, 2015 the Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters (the Action Committee) convened a meeting for existing provincial and territorial access to justice groups (P/T A2J groups), many of which were formed in response to recommendation 5.1 of the Action Committee’s Roadmap Report.

The purpose of the meeting was to reflect on the progress made by these groups over the past year, discuss the access to justice initiatives underway in different jurisdictions, highlight promising developments, learn from common challenges, and consider collaborations and cooperation among justice stakeholders that could be further supported by the Action Committee.
The report can be accessed in English here and in French here.

Civil Non-Family Cases Filed in the Supreme Court of BC

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Please find attached the recently released Final Report of the CFCJ’s Attrition Study. This study, which is a part of the CFCJ’s larger Cost of Justice project, aims to examine the outcome of unresolved, civil, non-family cases in the BC Supreme Court and assess the level of satisfaction among claimants. In addition to presenting the study’s survey findings, the report makes several recommendations that could potentially improve research that attempts to collect data about court users experiences. You can access the report here.

Justice, not Just Access: Effective Outcomes for Children Children’s Legal Rights – the Fundamentals

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In May 2015, The Honourable Donna Martinson, Q.C., presented a paper entitled “Justice, not Just Access: Effective Outcomes for Children Children’s Legal Rights – the Fundamentals” at the Access to Justice for Children Conference – CLEBC in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The paper begins with an introduction on justice for children and moves on to an overview of how the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child applies in Canada. This overview includes both a description of how Canada has implemented this convention and how this related to the Charter.

The paper further goes on to discuss the Committee on the Rights of the Child, its role, the four general principles of the Convention and an evaluation of State compliance. It also analyses when children’s rights must be considered and what Canada’s obligations are under the Convention.

In the final section of the paper, “A Roadmap for Change for Children – Access to Justice Phase 2”, Honourable Donna Martinson “respectfully suggest(s) that now is the time to integrate into our national access to justice discussions a specific roadmap which recognizes the special considerations that apply in order to achieve justice for children…”

A subscription to the webinar archive can be accessed at http://www.cle.bc.ca/onlinestore/productdetails.aspx?cid=1134

The Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters Convenes a Meeting of Provincial and Territorial A2J Groups

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In March the Action Committee on Access to Justice and Family Matters convened a meeting of provincial and territorial access to justice groups.

The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice has posted a short blog on the meeting as well as short updates from A2J groups in Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Access them here.

Access to Justice for Children: A B.C. Continuing Legal Education Society Conference

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**Repost from Canadian Legal Ethics listserv**

An exciting two day B.C. Continuing Legal Education Society conference called Access to Justice for Children  will take place in Vancouver, at the Pan Pacific Hotel, on May 14-15, 2015.

From the conference description:

The Canadian legal profession is engaged in critically important discussions about access to justice. Ensuring access to justice for children must be a key component of those discussions. Children in Canada have broad legal entitlements under domestic and international law, including significant participatory rights, which have the potential to shape their everyday lives in positive ways and to protect them when they become involved in court, alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or administrative processes […] All lawyers have obligations to prepare, with the participation of children, Child Rights Impact Statements for all legislative and policy decision making.

The conference agenda can be found here.

Keynote speakers include:

  • Senator Raynell Andreychuk,  a former lawyer, judge and diplomat and chaired the Senate Standing Human Rights Committee that produced the report Children: the Silenced Citizens on Canada’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and
  • Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, a B.C.’s Children’s Representative and a passionate advocate for children and for effective legal representation for them.

Other out of province speakers who are committed to advancing children’s rights include:

  • Lucy McSweeney, the Children’s Lawyer for Ontario,
  • Christian Whalen, Chair of the CBA National Children’s Law Committee, and
  • Lisa Wolff, UNICEF Canada.

Judge Marion Buller and Judge Rose Raven from the B.C. Provincial Court and Justice Margot Fleming from B.C. Supreme Court) also bring their considerable knowledge and keen interest in justice for children to our access to justice discussions.