Category Nova Scotia

Action Committee Releases 2024 Justice Development Goals Report

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The national Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters’ (Action Committee) 2024 Justice Development Goals report is now available. The report highlights the evolution of the Action Committee and a decade of progress on access to justice across Canada.

For the 2024 Justice Development Goals report, 86 organizations reported on 227 projects advancing access to justice. The report provides details on work carried out in 2024 under each of the 9 justice development goals. Additional information is provided on actions taken on Reconciliation in 2024. The 9 justice development goals are:

  • JDG 1: Address everyday legal problems
  • JDG 2: Meet legal needs
  • JDG 3: Make courts work better
  • JDG 4: Improve family justice
  • JDG 5: Work together
  • JDG 6: Build capability
  • JDG 7: Innovate
  • JDG 8: Analyse and learn
  • JDG 9: Improve funding strategies

Justice Development Goals – A Decade of Progress: Trends Report 2024 is available in English here: https://ajrn.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/928d9-jdgreport2024.pdf. The report is available in French here: https://ajrn.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/b9eba-odjreport2024.pdf.

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.

Nova Scotia Legal Aid Opens First-of-its-kind in Atlantic Canada Legal Aid Office in Sipekne’katik First Nation

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On September 19 2024, Nova Scotia Legal Aid (NSLA) and Sipekne’katik First Nation held a grand opening ceremony for a first of its kind in Atlantic Canada legal aid office. This office represents “a new model for providing direct legal services to First Nations communities”. The collaboration between NSLA and Sipekne’katik First Nation is an important step forward in improving access to justice in Sipekne’katik First Nation.

Chief Michelle Glasgow of Sipekne’katik First Nation said of the new legal aid office: “[this] is a significant step towards addressing the unique legal needs of our community members and ensuring we have equal access to justice. Having legal aid services available right here in Sipekne’katik supports our goals of improving the well-being of our people and preserving our Mi’kmaw culture and traditions.”

The Nova Scotia Legal Aid Sipekne’katik Office is located at 529-1 Church Street, Indian Brook. The office will officially open in October 2024: https://www.sipeknekatik.ca/community-notices/nova-scotia-legal-aid-opens-office-in-sipeknekatik-first-nation.

New Report on Nova Scotia Jails Highlights Concerns Around Access to Healthcare and Indigenous Spiritual Supports

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The third annual report on the Conditions of Confinement in Nova Scotia Provincial Jails outlines concerns around the protection of the health and safety of provincially incarcerated people. The concerns are similar to concerns raised in previous years. Specifically, the report identifies disruptions to “essential medications upon incarceration and failure to meet the standards of care in place in other provincial correctional health systems on providing supports…to persons with substance use problems”.

The report also identifies concerns around access to Indigenous spiritual supports, including but not limited to lack of daily access to smudging.

Importantly, in Nova Scotia, more than 70% of the provincially incarcerated population are in jail pre-trial and have not yet been found guilty or innocent. Many face issues of social exclusion and discrimination.

The East Coast Prison Justice Society Visiting Committee 2022-2023 Annual Report is published online here: https://www.eastcoastprisonjustice.ca/uploads/1/3/8/1/138152103/ecpjs_vc_annual_report_2022-23__final_.pdf.

Details included in this post were gleaned from a September 17, 2024 press release entitled, East Coast Prison Justice Society Visiting Committee Report on Conditions of Confinement in NS Provincial Jails.

Call for Proposals Launched for 2025 People-Centred Justice Workshop

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The 3rd annual People-Centred Justice Workshop will take place from May 30-31, 2025 in Vancouver, BC, on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Organized by the BC Access to Justice Centre for Excellence at the University of Victoria, in collaboration with University of British Columbia’s Peter A. Allard School of Law and Thompson Rivers University’s Faculty of Law, and building on the success of the 2023 and 2024 PCJ workshops, this event aims to provide a venue to discuss Canadian A2J initiatives. The theme for the 2025 Workshop is “Innovation in People-Centred Justice.” The workshop will be conducted in a hybrid format, with AI-assisted translation services available for participants joining remotely or in person.

The organizing committee welcomes proposals on research, projects, or papers addressing any form of innovation in this field, whether through technology, procedural reform, or alternative approaches to people-centred justice. If you would like to participate, please submit your information and a brief proposal outline in this form by October 7, 2024. No abstract or complete work is required now, and subsequent deadlines will be communicated with participants. Participants will not be strictly held to the outline they provide. The October 7 deadline will allow organizers to better plan the workshop program and apply for funding to support the event.

The 2025 People-Centred Justice Workshop will immediately follow the 2025 Conference of the Federation of Law Reform Agencies of Canada (FOLRAC), which will also be held in Vancouver. Some participants may wish to attend both events.

Nova Scotia Announces More Funding For Legal Aid Services

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Nova Scotia has announced additional funding of $3.98 million for 2024-25 and $5.6 million annually starting in 2025-26 to increase compensation for private lawyers used when Nova Scotia Legal Aid staff lawyers are not available. The maximum number of billable hours will also increase. The province hopes the additional funding will encourage private lawyers to accept legal aid cases.

According to the Chair of the Nova Scotia Legal Aid Commission, the announcement represents “the largest single increase to hourly rates for private bar lawyers in Nova Scotia Legal Aid’s 47-year history, and…is very good news for low-income Nova Scotians with legal matters”.

The press release is available in English here: https://news.novascotia.ca/en/2024/05/16/more-funding-legal-aid-services.

Access to Justice Organizations Collaborating on Person-Centred Justice, Change & Connection Workshop

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The Access to Justice Centre for Excellence at the University of Victoria Faculty of Law (ACE) and McGill University’s Faculty of Law in collaboration with the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice (CFCJ) and CREATE Justice at the University of Saskatchewan College of Law will be hosting a hybrid workshop on Person-Centred Justice, Change, and Connection at McGill University’s Faculty of Law from May 24-25, 2024 (the 2024 PCJ Workshop). Proposals are welcome from researchers, graduate students, and practitioners on themes related to access to justice and person-centred justice, including works and projects which challenge or expand understandings of the field through empirical, critical, or pluralistic lenses. The deadline to submit proposals is January 19, 2024.

The 2024 PCJ Workshop will build on the excellent discussions and scholarly exchanges that took place at the inaugural Person-Centred Justice workshop held at York University on May 29, 2023 and subsequent (forthcoming 2024) contributions to a special issue of the Canadian Journal of Law and Society on Person-Centred Justice. The workshop will be an opportunity to build connections between scholars, researchers, practitioners and other access to justice stakeholders across Canada; it will also facilitate the development of scholarly works for publication in journals that accept submissions on the themes of access to justice and person-centred justice such as the Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice (see submission guidelines). Finally, the 2024 PCJ Workshop will also support preparation for the upcoming International Access to Justice Forum to be held in Toronto in fall of 2024 in a friendly, collaborative and supportive atmosphere.

The 2024 PCJ Workshop will be held in a fully hybrid format, with a focus on virtual presenters on May 24th and in-person presenters on May 25th. Presenters will be arranged into panels based on themes that emerge from submissions to encourage new connections. In support of the 2024 PCJ Workshop, ACE and its partners are seeking the support of SSHRC through a Connections Grant. If ACE and its partners are successful in gaining Connections Grant funding, financial support will be available to:

  1. Provide travel support funding for participants that express a need for funding to attend in- person, such as graduate students and practitioners – priority will be given to those who apply by January 10, 2024;
  2. Provide simultaneous and documentary English/French translation to support bilingual proceedings at the 2024 PCJ Workshop; and
  3. Provide guidance and support for the publication and dissemination of research through avenues such as blog posts, social media channels, and scholarly journals.

Those interested in submitting an abstract (maximum 250 words) are asked to fill out the following online form by January 19, 2024: English Version | Version française

Inquiries about the event can be directed to: kaitlyncumming@gmail.com

Download a copy of the Call for Proposals here: https://ajrn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/call-for-proposals-appel-a-participation-2024-pcj-workshop.pdf.

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Appel à propositions
Atelier hybride sur la justice axée sur la personne, le changement et les connexions Faculté de droit de l’Université McGill | 24 et 25 mai 2024

Le Centre d’excellence pour l’accès à la justice de la Faculté de droit de l’Université de Victoria (ACE) et la Faculté de droit de l’Université McGill en collaboration avec le Forum canadien sur la justice civile (FCJC) et CREATE Justice du Collège de droit de l’Université de Saskatchewan, a le plaisir d’annoncer qu’il organisera un atelier hybride sur la justice axée sur la personne, le changement et les connexions à la Faculté de droit de l’Université McGill les 24 et 25 mai 2024 (l’atelier JAP 2024). Nous invitons les chercheuses et chercheurs, les étudiant·es aux cycles supérieurs et les praticien·ne·s à soumettre des propositions sur des thèmes liés à l’accès à la justice et à la justice axée sur la personne, y compris des travaux et des projets qui remettent en question ou élargissent la compréhension du domaine à l’aide d’approches empiriques, critiques ou pluralistes. La date limite de soumission des propositions est le 19 janvier 2024.

L’atelier JAP 2024 construira sur le fondement des excellentes discussions et des échanges scientifiques qui ont eu lieu lors de l’atelier inaugural sur la justice axée sur la personne qui s’est tenu à l’Université York le 29 mai 2023 et sur les contributions ultérieures (dont la publication est à venir en 2024) à un numéro spécial de la Revue canadienne droit et société portant sur la justice axée sur la personne. L’atelier sera l’occasion d’établir des liens entre les universitaires, les chercheuses et chercheurs, les praticien·ne·s et d’autres acteurs de l’accès à la justice de partout au Canada; il facilitera également l’élaboration de travaux universitaires destinés à être publiés dans des revues qui acceptent des articles sur les thèmes de l’accès à la justice et de la justice axée sur la personne, telles que le Recueil annuel de Windsor d’accès à la justice (voir leurs lignes directrices pour les soumissions). Enfin, l’atelier JAP 2024 soutiendra également, dans une atmosphère amicale, de collaboration et de soutien, les préparatifs en vue du Forum international sur l’accès à la justice qui se tiendra à Toronto en automne 2024.

L’atelier JAP 2024 se déroulera de façon entièrement hybride, avec un accent sur les présentateurs virtuels le 24 mai et sur les présentateurs en personne le 25 mai. Les présentateurs seront répartis en panels en fonction des thèmes qui émergeront des soumissions afin d’encourager de nouvelles connexions. Pour soutenir l’atelier JAP 2024, ACE et ses partenaires sollicitent présentement le soutien du CRSH par le biais d’une Subvention Connexion. Si ACE et ses partenaires réussissent à obtenir ce financement, un soutien financier sera disponible pour :

  1. Fournir du financement pour les déplacements des participant·es qui en expriment le besoin pour assister à l’atelier en personne, tels que les étudiant·es aux cycles supérieurs et les praticien·ne·s – La priorité sera donnée à ceux qui auront déposé leur soumission avant le 10 janvier 2024;
  2. Fournir une traduction simultanée et documentaire de l’anglais au français et vice-versa, afin de permettre que l’atelier JAP 2024 se déroule dans les deux langues; et
  3. Fournir des conseils aux participant·es en soutenant la publication et la diffusion de la recherche par des moyens tels que des articles de blog, des médias sociaux et des revues académiques.

Les personnes intéressées à soumettre un résumé de leur contribution (250 mots maximum) sont priées de remplir le formulaire électronique suivant avant le 19 janvier 2024 : Version française | English Version

Les questions concernant l’événement peuvent être adressées à: kaitlyncumming@gmail.com

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

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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/.

Dalhousie Law School Students Launch Website on Indigenous and Aboriginal Law

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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

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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 25th to 26th.

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/.