PBSC & ACCESS TO JUSTICE
IN THE NEWS
INSPIRING INNOVATION TO INCREASE ACCESS TO JUSTICE
Shay Khan & Noorain Shethwala
"The panelists explained their vision for a more effective and accessible justice system through systemic reform, cultivating a personal ethic, and community empowerment."
Tags/Keywords: Events, Annual Appreciation, Access to justice, Innovation, Self-Representation
PBSC CALGARY VOLUNTEERS TEACH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS "YES MEANS YES"!
Pro Bono Students Canada
"This project is focused on providing high-school aged students with a comprehensive understanding of consent and other legal issues of consent that come up in relationships."
Tags/Keywords: Consent, Education, High School Programs
ON WORLD DAY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE, LET'S TALK A2J
Nikki Gershbain, National Director of Pro Bono Students Canada
"Most Canadians don’t think of access to legal services as a social justice issue. Fewer still think of it as something relevant to their own lives. Yet a lack of access to the legal system is not just an abstract concept, it’s a serious problem that impacts us all."
Tags/Keywords: United Nations, World Day of Social Justice, A2J, Access to Justice
PBSC & DENTONS CANADA PROMOTE THE TAX ADVOCACY PROJECT
Pro Bono Students Canada
"Tax Advocacy Project (TAP), our award-winning project that provides law students with an opportunity to represent low-income appellants before the Federal Tax Court of Canada."
Tags/Keywords: Conference, Tax Advocacy Project
PBSC ALBERTA STUDENTS WIN HUMAN RIGHTS CASE!
Pro Bono Students Canada
"In 2014-2015, University of Alberta students, Ally Ismail and Will Peachman, volunteered with PBSC Alberta’s Human Rights Project and successfully advocated on behalf of a client before the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal."
Tags/Keywords: Access to Justice, Human Right’s Commission, Student Advocates
KING'S PROFESSOR WORKS WITH PRO BONO STUDENTS CANADA ON AN INVENTIVE STUDY ON FAMILY LAW LITIGANTS
Pro Bono Students Canada
"The study will look to survey both represented and self-represented family law litigants to better understand their experiences in the courts."
Tags/Keywords: Self-Representation, Access to Justice, Study, Queen’s
PBSC TORONTO AND OSGOODE CHAPTERS HOST CHIEF JUSTICE OF CANADA BEVERLY MCLACHLIN
Pro Bono Students Canada
"When asked what Constitutional issues she believes will take centre stage over the coming decade, Justice McLachlin mentioned Canada’s “reconciliation” with First Nations, describing the story of Canada more broadly as “a project on reconciliation”."
Tags/Keywords: Access to Justice, Aboriginal Issues
PBSC CAMPAIGN FOR FAMILY JUSTICE THANKS OUR CONTRIBUTORS
Pro Bono Students Canada
"In the May 16th, 2014 digital edition of the Ontario Reports, PBSC provided an update on the progress of the Campaign for Family Justice and thanked contributors to the campaign."
Tags/Keywords: Family Law, Ontario Reports, Campaign
CALGARY PBSC STUDENTS PROVIDE LEGAL INFORMATION TO FLOOD VICTIMS
Eleanor Carlson
"In the days following the July flooding of Calgary and other areas of Southern Alberta, the various U of C law student Facebook pages lit up with offers of help for fellow law students."
Tags/Keywords: Access to Justice, Emergency
LEGAL AID DOING ITS BIT
David Field, President and CEO, Legal Aid Ontario
"We applaud the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies for implementing programs to collect information throughout Ontario about the race of families under investigation and the treatment of Aboriginal and racialized children."
Tags/Keywords: Children’s Aid Society, Child Protection, Family Law
LEGAL ASSISTANCE OF WINDSOR AND COMMUNITY LEGAL AID CELEBRATE THEIR NEW CO-LOCATION
Legal Aid Ontario
"It means that an individual will now be able to access a variety of legal and social work services at one accessible downtown location. Our students and staff have experienced incredible opportunities to collaborate as a result of the co-location."
Tags/Keywords: Access to Justice, Legal Aid, Collaberation
LAO'S PARALEGALS PROVIDE FULL RANGE OF PRACTICE IN CRIMINAL COURTS
LAO
"As a result, paralegals can provide our clients with more comprehensive services, our managers with more options for staffing, and our duty counsel with more time to work with clients on complex matters."
Tags/Keywords: Access to Justice, Expanding Available Resources, LAO Study
LEGAL AID ELIGIBILITY THRESHOLD INCREASES ANOTHER 6 PERCENT
LAO
"As of April 1, 2016, 385,310 more people will be eligible for legal aid services. As a result of these increases, 1.4 million people are now eligible for legal aid, up from 1 million prior to the increase."
Tags/Keywords: Funding, Access to Justice, Increase
CBA SPEAKS OUT IN FAVOUR OF JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE
Canadian Bar Association
"On April 29, they explained to the Commission that the CBA has a long tradition of speaking out in favour of judicial independence, and of working actively against potential political interference in the appointment and compensation of judges in Canada."
Tags/Keywords: Judicial Independence, Impartiality in Law
FINANCIAL ELIGIBILITY UPDATE: THOUSANDS MORE LOW-INCOME PEOPLE GETTING LEGAL AID CERTIFICATES
LAO
"Over the past three months, Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) issued legal aid certificates to nearly 5,650 more low-income Ontarians, compared to the same three months last year."
Tags/Keywords: Eligibility, Access to Justice
LAO BOOSTS STUDENT LEGAL AID CLINICS' FUNDING
LAO
"Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) will increase the funding of each Student Legal Aid Services Society by $100,000 annually. As a result, these clinics will provide additional services to low-income Ontarians while helping to train the lawyers of tomorrow."
Tags/Keywords: Student Legal Aid Services, Funding, Access to Justice
WE ARE HERE TO HELP: THE CHANGING CULTURE OF LEGAL AID IN NOVA SCOTIA
AB Currie
"The traditional legal aid model has focused on providing legal solutions to a series of problems that have been narrowly defined as “legal.” The reality, however, is that strictly legal problems are often embedded within a cluster of non-legal problems."
Tags/Keywords: Community Organizations, Clinic Culture
HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN AND THE JUSTICE SYSTEM: LESSONS FROM THE FIELD
Nicole Aylwin
"This approach has led to several recommended improvements in the civil justice system, including the complete redesign of the family law statement of claim as part of the Yukon Simplified Form Innovation Project."
Tags/Keywords: Social Justice Reform, Access to Justice
EVERYDAY LEGAL PROBLEMS AND THE COST OF JUSTICE IN CANADA
Canadian Forum on Social Justice
"The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice (CFCJ) is thrilled to announce the publication of three papers from our SSHRC-funded "Cost of Justice" research project. These papers are based on findings from the CFCJ's Everyday Legal Problems and the Cost of Justice in Canada survey, the first national survey in almost ten years to measure the frequency and ways in which members of the Canadian public experience everyday legal problems."
Tags/Keywords: Academic Papers, Improving Access
RURAL AND REMOTE ACCESS TO JUSTICE INFOGRAPHIC
Lisa Moore
"This infographic provides an overview of the unique access to justice challenges experienced by Canadians in rural and remote settings and presents several recommendations for improving access to legal services and information in rural and remote areas."
Tags/Keywords: Rural, Access to Justice, Infographic
PATHS TO JUSTICE AND THE RESOLUTION OF CONSUMER PROBLEMS
Les Jacobs, David Kryszajtys, Matthew McManus
"In particular, their research looks at patterns in the decision to access the formal legal system to resolve one or more consumer problem, based on ethnicity, level of education and income."
Tags/Keywords: Consumer Problems, Research
INTEGRATING INNOVATION FROM OTHER JURISDICTIONS: THOUGHTS FROM THE INNOVATION AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE CONFERENCE
Quin Gilbert-Walters
"Courts are often inaccessible both physically and due to a number of barriers, ranging from language to cost. MyLawBC and the LISNS have seen some success at adopting and adapting innovative foreign practices into the Canadian justice system landscape, which have provided important benefits for Canadians."
Tags/Keywords: Access to Justice, Current Issues, Other Jurisdictions
THE GLOBAL STUDY ON LEGAL AID
AB Currie
"The United Nations Development Program and the United Nations Program on Drugs and Crime recently launched a worldwide study on legal aid. The study recognizes the significant role legal aid can play in securing people’s rights and entitlements, obtaining redress for grievances and ensuring proper criminal defense."
Tags/Keywords: Improving Legal Aid, Legal Aid, Access to Justice
ACCESS TO JUSTICE, ACCESS TO CLIENTS: METHODDOLOGICAL CHALLENGES IN CIVIL JUSTICE RESEARCH
Janet Currie
"High quality research is essential for the planning and implementation of effective civil justice services and programs. There is an ever-growing demand from funders for research data on questions about access to justice in civil cases, costs, timeliness, whether cases are ultimately settled and the most effective approaches for special groups like high conflict parents and self-represented litigants."
Tags/Keywords: Research, Improve Programs
UNIFIED FAMILY COURTS: AN ESTABLISHED MECHANISM FOR IMPROVING ACCESS TO JUSTICE
J.P Boyd
"One obvious solution might lie in amalgamating the trial courts to provide litigants with one court, with easy to understand rules and processes that are proportionate to the nature of the dispute and specific to family law, that is integrated with the relevant social services."
Tags/Keywords: Improving Access to Justice, Family Law