Category Jurisdiction

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

Innovation and Access to Justice Conference

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Please see below, a reminder from Sherry MacLennan, Director, Public Legal Information & Applications, Legal Services Society

This is a reminder that the Innovation and Access to Justice Conference is just a few weeks away – October 1 and 2. A few spots remain available and we are hoping to sell out. It is attracting a broad swath of interest from innovators across the legal community, ranging from government, law societies, legal aid, the private bar, PLEI providers and academics from across Canada.

This conference is in Montreal for the low registration fee of $175 to ensure the conference’s accessibility. However, this will increase to $200 on September 28. The final date to register is September 29. It will not be possible to register in person at the conference.

You may view the agenda and register at: http://iaj2015.openum.ca/registration/

 

Law Society of Yukon Supports Gladue Program Pilot Project

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Capture- Yukon Gladue - Research and Resource Project

In an information bulletin released by The Law Society of Yukon, they acknowledge the seriousness of access to justice issues in remote and northern communities across Canada and identify four areas of particular concern:

  1. Lack of social resources
  2. Lack of legal resources
  3. Lack of alternative measures and restorative justice programs
  4. Lack of Gladue information before the Courts

The Law Society recently expressed their support for the Gladue Pilot project aimed at addressing these and related, longstanding access to justice issues.

Read the Yukon Gladue Research and Resource Identification Project Report in full here.

Unprecedented Legal Aid Funding Increase In Ontario: Questions Remain

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Legal aid ontario

Although the Ontario government’s unprecedented multi-year commitment to increasing legal aid funding continues to move forward, the National Self Represented Litigant Project cautions that celebration may be premature. In a recent blog post, the NSRLP congratulates the decision to increase legal aid funding, but poses a few critical questions about the implementation of aid distribution which has yet to take place.

Semple Explores Civil Justice Costs for Canadians

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Noel Semple has recently released a paper contributing to the ongoing discussion surrounding the cost of civil justice in Canada. He draws attention to the financially burdensome nature of civil justice claims, as well as temporal and psychological costs involved with legal disputes. His thorough investigation of the issue draws on the National Self Represented Litigants Project for quantitative information about the true costs of accessing civil justice. The paper is available on SSRN.

Family Lawyers Petition for Contingency Fees

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no-win-no-fee-2

A group of 11 Toronto family lawyers are petitioning the Law Society to lift its contingency fee prohibition. They argue that the current regulatory framework poses a disadvantage to parties with access to fewer resources. The lawyers also point out that the high number of self-represented litigants in the family justice system warrants a change to current billing structures.

To read more about the petition, see this Toronto Star article.

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RFJS2

 

Since its inception in 2013, the Family Justice System Reform initiative has brought together over 200 organizations and individuals committed to improving Alberta’s family justice environment.

The overall aim of the initiative is to create a system that is “open, responsive, cost-effective and will put the needs of children and families first while assisting families with the early and final resolution of disputes.”

To find out more, or to become a part of the initiative, you can visit their site here.