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

May 21, 2021May 21, 2021ajrn1 Leave a comment

“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

May 12, 2021May 12, 2021ajrn1 Leave a comment

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

May 6, 2021May 6, 2021ajrn1 Leave a comment

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 5^th 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.

Law Commission of Ontario’s New Paper Explores the use of Artificial Intelligence, Automated Decision-Making and Algorithms in Canada’s Justice System

April 15, 2021April 15, 2021ajrn1 Leave a comment

“Regulating AI: Critical Issues and Choices” is the second in a series of papers by the Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) that seeks to examine the use of artificial intelligence (AI), automated decision-making (ADM) and algorithms in Canada’s justice system. The focus of this paper is on regulatory frameworks for AI and ADM systems that support decision-making. Understanding the implications of AI and ADM systems and how to regulate them has become increasingly important in Canada and throughout the world. This paper contemplates a range of important questions surrounding the regulation of these systems, including: how AI and ADM should be defined for regulatory purposes; how and when governments should be required to disclose their use of AI and ADM; what role “ethical AI” might play in government regulation of AI and ADM; and whether government regulation of AI and ADM should promote innovation and/or human rights.

“Regulating AI: Critical Issues and Choices” by Nye Thomas, Erin Chochla and Susie Lindsay is available on the Law Commission of Ontario’s website here: https://www.lco-cdo.org/en/the-lco-releases-a-new-report-regulating-ai-critical-issues-and-choices/.

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

September 2, 2020September 2, 2020ajrn1 Leave a comment

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/.

New Report Highlights Importance of Community-Based Access to Justice

July 17, 2020July 17, 2020ajrn1 Leave a comment

“Community Justice Help: Advancing Community-Based Access to Justice” is a discussion paper by Julie Matthews (Executive Director of Community Legal Education Ontario) and Professor David Wiseman (University of Ottawa Faculty of Law) that explores the role of community justice workers in improving access to justice. The paper also discusses support mechanisms and tools that could further advance the contributions of community justice helpers.

“Community Justice Help: Advancing Community-Based Access to Justice” offers a framework that describes important elements of good quality community justice help. These include:

Community justice helpers have the knowledge, skills and experience they need;
Community justice helpers work within a not-for-profit organization and an ethical infrastructure; and,
Community justice helpers provide holistic support to meet clients’ multi-dimensional needs.

The framework is intended to support the recognition of the following, important elements for improving community-based access to justice:

That community justice help is an important and valid component of the broader ecosystem of access to justice services
That all components of the ecosystem must be adequately supported through public funding and other means; and
That community justice help already aligns with the regulatory framework overseen by the LSO for the practice of law and the provision of legal services.

The Community Justice Help paper is informed by a literature review, discussions with members of the justice, not-for-profit and academic communities, and interviews with key staff working in community-based organizations.

“Community Justice Help: Advancing Community-Based Access to Justice”, a discussion paper by Julie Matthews and David Wiseman is available online here: https://cleoconnect.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Community-Justice-Help-Advancing-Community-Based-Access-to-Justice_discussion-paper-July-2020.pdf.

Canadian Forum on Civil Justice Launches Project to Measure Long-Term Impacts of Access to Legal Help

July 4, 2019July 4, 2019ajrn1 Leave a comment

The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice (CFCJ) has announced the launch of the first phase of a project aimed at “Measuring the Impacts of Legal Service Interventions”. This new project, which is funded by the Law Foundation of Ontario (LFO), will focus on the development of a longitudinal impact study that assesses the effectiveness of different types of legal service interventions on the outcome of particular types of legal disputes. The study will also seek to measure the impacts on the long-term health of clients, while providing necessary insights into the costs and benefits of such interventions.

Having a better and more accurate understanding of how different types of legal interventions impact the outcome of a dispute can help to provide the public with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions about how to deal with their legal problem(s) and potentially improves their legal capabilities. It can help governments, policy makers and funders to understand which justice pathways and tools show the most promise in particular scenarios, and this type of information can also assist legal service providers with decisions around how to allocate budgets and scale different services.

The press release for this newly launched Law Foundation of Ontario funded project can be accessed here: http://cfcj-fcjc.org/wp-content/uploads/Measuring-the-Impact-of-Legal-Service-Interventions-CFCJ-LFO-Press-Release.pdf.

National Action Committee Publishes New Report on Canada’s Progress on Justice Development Goals

April 30, 2019April 30, 2019ajrn1 Leave a comment

A recently released report by the national Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters (Action Committee) offers insights into new developments, research, initiatives and other efforts that are contributing to improvements in access to justice in Canada. This report represents the most recent review by the Action Committee of Canada’s progress on nine goals that are deemed essential for better access to justice. The report tracks achievements during 2018 using the Justice Development Goals as a common framework for coordinating efforts, sharing innovations, and measuring progress on access to justice.

Canada’s nine Justice Development Goals are to:

Address Everyday Legal Problems
Meet Legal Needs
Make Courts Work Better
Improve Family Justice
Work Together
Build Capacity
Innovate
Analyze and Learn
Improve Funding Strategies

The new Action Committee report, “Working Toward Accessible Justice: Tracking Progress on the JDGs in 2018” is available online in English here: http://www.justicedevelopmentgoals.ca/sites/default/files/2018jdgsworkingtorwardsa2jreport.pdf.

Vous pouvez télécharger << Travaillent pour une justice accessible : Suivi des progrès réalisés sur les objectifs de développement en matière de justice au Canada en 2018 >> ici : http://www.justicedevelopmentgoals.ca/sites/default/files/2018ojdstravaillentpoura2jrapport.pdf.

Learn more about the Justice Development Goals here: http://www.justicedevelopmentgoals.ca/goals.

Pour plus d’informations sur les objectifs de développement en matière de justice, cliquez ici : http://www.justicedevelopmentgoals.ca/fr.