Category Justice Metrics

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.

New OECD Report Provides Guidance on Measuring and Improving Access to Justice in Courts

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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published a new policy paper aimed at helping countries adopt the OECD’s Recommendation on Access to Justice and People-Centred Justice Systems. “Measuring and Improving Access to Justice in Courts: Learning from the United Kingdom’s Experience” outlines a replicable model for developing an evidence-based approach for defining, measuring, improving, and monitoring access to justice in court services.

The report presents details on the following seven pillars for advancing these access-to-justice objectives:

  • Review the organisational foundations of access to justice before engaging in work to measure and improve access to justice
  • Adopt a clear definition of access to justice, in consultation with justice stakeholders
  • Measure access to justice in ways that align with the organizational definition and data strategy.
  • Understand existing barriers and challenges and their underlying causes
  • Identify and adopt targeted improvements for court services
  • Monitor the changes and data; ensure there is a plan for tracking progress
  • Identify and address evidence gaps

The OECD report on “Measuring and Improving Access to Justice in Courts: Learning from the United Kingdom’s Experience” is available online here: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/governance/measuring-and-improving-access-to-justice-in-court-services_a8226ccc-en.

Information in this post was gleaned from the OECD Measuring and Improving Access to Justice in Courts report.

Updated Canadian Indicator Framework for UN SDGs Includes Civil Court Case Completion Time

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Statistics Canada has released information about the updated Canadian Indicator Framework (CIF) for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UN SDGs represent a global effort to advance economic and social development across 17 goals. The CIF for the UN SDGs was created to address and better assess Canada’s progress towards national SDG priorities. Every indicator in the CIF includes the most recent data available. Canada carries out a review of the CIF every three years. This year’s review resulted in several changes in the framework, including the addition of 20 indicators deemed important to address measurement gaps.

Notable for the justice community, an indicator on civil court case completion time (the time elapsed from the initiation of a civil court case to its first disposition) was added under Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).

A Statisics Canada news release indicates the following:

“In 2022/2023, 46.7% of total civil cases were completed within three months, up from 46.1% in 2021/2022.

Family cases, such as divorce, child custody, property division and adoption, have maintained a higher proportion of swift resolutions compared with general civil cases, which may involve disputes, such as contracts, bankruptcy and other claims involving money.

In 2022/2023, 57.7% of family cases were resolved within three months in 2022/2023, compared with just under 40% of general civil cases being resolved within the same period.”

Information and data for Indicator 16.4.4: Civil court case completion time is available here: https://sdgcif-data-canada-oddcic-donnee.github.io/16-4-1/.

Information for this post was gleaned from a Statistics Canada news release. To read the release, visit: https://www.statcan.gc.ca/o1/en/plus/7064-peek-updated-canadian-indicator-framework.

New Legal Needs Survey Report Published in the UK

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The Law Society of England and Wales, working in conjunction with the Legal Services Board and YouGov, carried out a survey in 2023 aimed at gathering information on people’s legal problem experiences, their understanding of the law, how problems intersect with other aspects of their lives and the impacts, and what people need from legal professionals and the justice system. More than 12,000 people across England and Wales participated in the survey.

Survey results were published in April 2024. Key findings include:

  • Two thirds of adults in England and Wales experienced a legal problem in the four-year reference period of the survey. This represents a 2-percent increase from the 2019 legal needs survey.
  • The most common legal problem types experienced are: employment, finance, welfare and benefits problems.
  • When considering external factors (Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and inflation), 12% of people said that their legal issue was caused by COVID-19; 15% felt that their issue was caused by increases in inflation/ the cost of living, and 26% said that their issue was made worse by the cost of living.
  • A majority of people who experienced a legal problem received some help for their problem, though fewer people reported receiving help in the 2023 survey than the 2019 survey (62% vs 66%).
  • 52% of people indicated that they received help from a professional; 11% of people received help from a non-professional. Young adults are more likely to get help.

The Legal Needs of Individuals in England and Wales: Summary Report 2024 can be downloaded here: https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/research/find-out-what-your-clients-need-with-the-results-of-our-legal-needs-survey.

For a news article discussing findings from the survey, see: https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/yougov-legal-needs-survey-suggests-solicitors-losing-market-share/5119414.article.

UVic Access to Justice Centre for Excellence Launches Justice Data and Design Lab

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The Access to Justice Centre for Excellence at the University of Victoria (UVic ACE) has released its first data update from the recently launched Justice Data and Design Lab (JDD). The JDD, which is housed at ACE, provides access to justice data insights specific to British Columbia.

Working with graduate students from the faculties of law and data science, the JDD has published data on the legal needs of British Columbians gleaned from social media site, Reddit.

Those interested in access to justice are encouraged to access the new JDD Interactive Display, which provides information on the types of legal problems people in B.C. are asking for help with on Reddit as of January 2024.

For information on how to download and view the interactive display, contact ACE at https://bcace.org/contact.

To better understand the type of data that the JDD is collecting and what they are learning from the data, there is a video explaining the data, available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LI7dpj9qZluZXAgXNFsKGFHh4qYm1WAV/view.

For general information on the Justice Data and Design Lab, visit: https://bcace.org/justice-data-and-design-lab. To learn more about the Access to Justice Centre for Excellence, visit: https://bcace.org/.

Statistics Canada Publishes Infographic on UN SDG 16

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An infographic published by Statistics Canada on January 25, 2024 provides an overview of Canada’s standing on several indicators for UN Sustainable Development Goal 16, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

The infographic reveals, for example, that:

  • In 2022, less than 50% of Canadians had confidence in the justice system and courts. This figure is lowest among LGBTQ2+ people.
  • Almost 32% of non-Indigenous people had confidence in the Canadian media
  • Fraud accounted for over 36,800 violations in 2022 (which is roughly half of all cyber-related violations)

The infographic is available in English here: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-637-x/2022001/article/00016-eng.htm.

The infographic is available in French here: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-637-x/2022001/article/00016-fra.htm.

New Research Sheds Light on Legal Capability, Attitudes and Experience of the Law in Victoria

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Volume 1 of the Public Understanding of Law Survey (PULS) examines everyday problems and legal need. Authors Nigel J. Balmer, Pascoe Pleasence, Hugh M. McDonald, and Rebecca L. Sandefur present findings in the first volume on the way that legal problems are experienced by adults in Victoria, the steps—if, any—people take to address their legal problem(s), how problems proceed, and how they end.  

Volume 1 reveals that approximately 42% of respondents reported having a legal problem. Problems related to goods and services (20.9%) were the most common, followed by fines (9.5%) and family problems (5.2%). Problems are correlated with disadvantage and result in significant individual and public costs. Legal problem experiences also commonly cause stress. In addition, the study indicates that problems often multiply and can be very difficult to shake off. The report presents findings on the relationship between disasters, emergencies and legal problems, revealing that among respondents affected by bushfires in 2019-20 there was a greater likelihood of experiencing more, diverse, and longer-lasting legal problems.

The study’s findings are based on responses from more than 6,000, mainly in-person surveys.

The second volume of the PULS (forthcoming) will explore legal capability, including differences across sociodemographic groups. The third volume of the PULS (forthcoming) will examine problem-solving behaviour and problem outcomes.

The Public Understanding of Law Survey (PULS) Volume 1: Everyday Problems and Legal Need is a project of the Victoria Law Foundation. The full report, as well as a report summary, and key findings are available online here: https://puls.victorialawfoundation.org.au/publications/everyday-problems-and-legal-need.

New Report Examines Perceptions of Canada’s Justice System and Experiences of Discrimination among Chinese People in Canada

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According to a new report published by Statistics Canada, Chinese people experience different forms of discrimination in Canada, including discrimination based on: race or skin colour (22%), ethnicity or culture (17%), language (11%), physical appearance (5.1%), sex (4.3%), age (3.7%) and gender identity or expression (1.4%).

A majority of Chinese people surveyed for the General Social Survey on Canadians’ Safety in 2019 reported significant or some confidence in the police (85%). However, compared to other racialized and non-racialized groups, Chinese people were less likely to rate the police positively for every indicator of police performance included in the survey, and their overall confidence in the police is lower than that of the non-racialized population (92%). The report also cites findings from the Canadian Legal Problems Survey (CLPS) revealing that, within the 3-year reference period of the CLPS, approximately 16% of Chinese people experienced at least one legal problem or dispute they considered serious or difficult to address. This is compared to 21% of other racialized populations who experienced serious and difficult-to-resolve legal problems for the same period.

The diverse insights from the Experiences of Discrimination in Daily Life among Chinese People in Canada, and their Perceptions of and Experiences with the Police and the Justice System report are available on the Statistics Canada website in English here: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2023001/article/00005-eng.htm.

Expériences de discrimination dans la vie quotidienne des personnes chinoises au Canada, et expériences et perceptions de celles-ci relatives à la police et au système de justice est disponsible en français ici : https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2023001/article/00005-fra.htm.

The report is written by Shana Conroy.

Canadian Association of Black Lawyers Launches First-of-its-kind Study Examining Black Lawyers’ Experiences in Canada

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The Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (CABL), with support from The Counsel Network and the TD Ready Commitment, has launched a survey to gather information about “the work experiences, career paths, opportunities and challenges encountered by Black lawyers in Canada”. In an interview with Law360, the president of CABL, Kyle Elliott observed that the legal profession “hasn’t always done a good job of [collecting and sharing data]”, adding that this study will contribute demographic data and important insights to the overall understanding of inequities and inequalities in the legal profession.

The survey includes questions aimed at collecting data on the Black experience in the legal profession related to:

  • Job interviews
  • Work environments
  • Opportunities for advancement
  • Support from mentors/sponsorship
  • Experiences within law firms, government, public and private companies are all examined.

The survey will remain open until 31 July, 2023. To access the survey in English or French, visit: https://cabl.ca/the-survey-examining-the-black-lawyers-experience-in-canada-is-live/.

Canada’s Second Voluntary National Review Now Available

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Canada’s 2023 Voluntary National Review – A Continued Journey for Implementing the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals is now available in both official languages on the Government of Canada website. The report includes a message from Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau that highlights the interconnected nature of ongoing crises in economic, housing and food insecurity, climate change and other serious challenges in Canada and abroad. The Prime Minister’s introductory message also emphasizes the need to achieve gender equality and promote the empowerment of women and girls, and make progress on other UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The Voluntary National Review examines Canada’s achievements across the 17 SDGs. Canada is also tracking its work on advancing the SDGs through the Global Indicator Framework (GIF) and the Canadian Indicator Framework (CIF).

The second Voluntary National Review provides details on ways that funding and other supports by Canada’s government to not-for-profit organizations, governments, academia, the private sector, Indigenous communities and organizations, women, youth and other stakeholders are helping to advance Canada’s national strategy. The review also highlights investments, milestones, and additional opportunities to implement the 2030 Agenda.

Canada’s 2023 Voluntary National Review – A Continued Journey for Implementing the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals is available in English here: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/agenda-2030/voluntary-national-review/2023-report.html.

Examen national volontaire 2023 du Canada – Une démarche continue à l’appui de la mise en œuvre du Programme 2030 et de l’atteinte des objectifs de développement durable est disponible en français ici : https://www.canada.ca/fr/emploi-developpement-social/programmes/programme-2030/examen-national-volontaire/rapport-2023.html.