POVERTY LAW PUBLICATIONS

This background piece was written while the anti-poverty law (Bill 112) was before the National Assembly in Quebec in 2002. It discusses the development of anti-poverty law in Quebec and encourages debate on fighting poverty as well as pointing out the importance of community solidarity and empowerment. It highlights the activities of successive Quebec governments from 1994 to 2002 in the war on poverty and particularly focuses on Bill 112, its development, goals and the environment surrounding its creation.

This is a study of problems having legal aspects experienced by low and moderate income Canadians. The main objectives of the study are to determine the incidence of law-related problems among this segment of the population and the social and demographic groups that are most vulnerable to problems.

The study identified a number of marginalized groups who had legal problems, including a growing segment of the labour force in unstable forms of non-standard employment, such as part-time work and marginal self-employment. These workers have lower and frequently interrupted incomes, limited access to benefits such as medical care, dental care and no pension benefits other than the minimal public pension system.This long-term structural change in the economy may signal the need for increased legal assistance.

This paper reconsiders legal aid services in light of the promises of poverty eradication that informed the original clinic movement and raises questions about the efficacy of existing legal aid services. It talks about a seamless approach to clinic service delivery that emphasizes strategic litigation efforts, alongside a community development approach that includes community organizing and law reform initiatives. While highlighting Parkdale Community Legal Services as an existing model for such an approach, it raises questions about the ability of other clinics with limited free student labor to employ such a model. Finally, the author advocates for a Director of Community Development position within clinics to make the seamless approach work.

A 2007 report for the Legal Services Society (legal aid) in British Columbia highlights some of the issues that Aboriginal communities have to deal with when attempting to access justice.

Addressing the unmet legal needs of Aboriginal people requires acknowledging that solutions must be found within Aboriginal cultures and delivered in partnership with Aboriginal communities. There are four key areas where changes could be made by the Legal Services Society (LSS) to significantly improve Aboriginal peoples’ access to, and use of, the legal services LSS provides: (1) Aboriginal representation within LSS, (2) legal representation available to Aboriginal people, (3) communication and outreach to Aboriginal communities, and (4) involvement of Aboriginal people in LSS program planning.

The paper deals with the forces that led to the establishment of the community clinics, their relationships to the judicare system and the purposes behind the government’s assumption of responsibility for funding and defining clinics. It highlights the scope of the service, community involvement, and funding decisions that must be structured very carefully in order to enhance clinics’ abilities to engage in meaningful representation with the establishment of government funded community clinics.

Recommendations include:

• Workload of the judicare model not be transferred to clinics
• Not defunding clinics on the basis that the priorities of majority must prevail
• Maintaining independence of clinics
• Community involvement needs to be recognized as it’s the most vital element in the unique characteristics of Ontario clinics
• Individual clinics must define more systemically the scope of services they want to provide
• Clinics must define the limits of the service mandate set out in the R egulation
• The service mandate of clinics requires an appreciation of their role in the context of Legal Aid Plan’s judicare program
• Clinics must be confident that their community organizations are scrupulously independent of other community groups

In August, 2002 all BC Legal Services Society’s poverty law direct service delivery primarily funded by the provincial government, were eliminated because of government cutbacks. This research paper reports on the status of poverty law services in British Columbia and records the views of poverty law service providers. The paper researches other delivery models in Canada and in other countries. The report serves as a first step in determining the most pressing poverty law needs in B.C. since the cutbacks and possible options to address them.

This article describes how “culture” shapes what each of us knows, understands and values; culture shapes how we make sense of the world. The authors suggest that all lawyering is in fact cross-cultural, not only because lawyers and their clients frequently have different cultural backgrounds, but because “law” itself can be understood as a particular culture. Lawyers need to learn how to identify their own assumptions, and to develop the capacity to enter the cultural imagination of others if they are to form meaningful relationships with clients that are grounded in trust. The authors propose “five habits” that lawyers should attempt to develop, so that they learn to challenge their own cultural assumptions and to genuinely hear and respect others. The “habits” are also intended to assist in planning the presentation of a legal case, anticipating how decisionmakers will hear and understand (or misunderstand) a client’s situation.

Although this article was written with lawyers in mind, these assumptions of course are also of relevance to advocates and community workers who work with immigrant and refugee communities regarding access to justice issues.

The premise of this paper is that a better understanding of the history of poverty law in Canada, as well as its roots in other jurisdictions, will inform discussions in the future. It is intended as a discussion paper for the development of a national network of poverty law advocates across the country, which will assist in defining the critical elements of community-based poverty law services. The paper starts with the history of poverty law services in Canada and goes on to talk about their decline, both in Canada and internationally. It then describes trends in poverty law services, and continues with a jurisdictional review of what is available across Canada.

This paper discusses the fact that the relationship between law and political activism have unrealistically drawn a line between legislative and judicial institutional structures. This has failed to consider the structure of professional organizations and the impediments to political activisms created by the nature of legal expertise. It posits that community legal aid clinics are an example of the possibilities of integrating law and political activism.

The paper concludes by suggesting that the success of community legal clinics in sustaining legal activism and political activism over time shows that prevailing conceptions of legal professionalism can be challenged, and that democratic institutional and organizational structures are important mechanisms for democratizing expertise and developing an understanding of law not severed from its social and political context.

The paper examines the commonalities among poor people, including marginalization, dependence, the multidimensional and systemic nature of legal problems and impediments to seeking legal redress. It goes on to identify some of the many differences among poor people which arise out of race, gender, disability. It argues that legal aid schemes should be attentive to both the commonalities and specific needs of marginalized groups. The paper goes on to provide a brief historical overview of coverage of these areas of legal needs under the Ontario Legal Aid Plan. It then describes the clinic system in detail with particular attention to community governance and the importance of local community boards.

An exhaustive analysis of the extent and quality of legal services available to low-income Canadians in each province and territory. The report points out that civil legal aid is underemphasized even though it is one of the most widely needed services, as most of the poor need help in civil law matters. They need more assistance as consumers because they are the main targets of consumer fraud, they also need help in terms of landlord disputes which are more common among low income people, and also, they may need legal assistance with regards to issues of discrimination, welfare matters, and unemployment benefits. There are also certain disadvantaged groups in society such as women, immigrants and refugees, aboriginals, the elderly and people with disabilities who desperately need such services due to the double burden they face as minorities/disabilities as well as their low income. Legal aid in this area could be used to validate the claims of such groups, and perhaps bring initiatives to strike down laws that do not respect the rights of such vulnerable groups. Also, it could help communities organize themselves into groups to defend rights and educate the poor about their legal rights, which is an important task in a democratic society.

The report concludes that the current system does not meet the needs of the poor and recommends sweeping changes.

Wexler argues that the traditional practice of law that is taught in law schools and practiced by lawyers does not efficiently deal with the legal problems of poor people. He suggests an alternative model where the lawyer’s role consists of assisting poor people to organize to create a cooperative environment, where they can collectively solve their own legal problem under the guidance of poverty lawyers. He believes that this is beneficial because it empowers poor people and provides them with a permanent infrastructure to advance their rights in society that cannot be taken away from them by the government, or by lawyers who no longer wish to work in poverty law.

Wexler suggests that a poverty lawyer can empower his or her clients in the following ways:

1. Informing individuals and groups of their rights: A lawyer can talk about their rights in a way that they understand.
2. Writing manuals and other materials: A lawyer should produce materials and make the law accessible to the poor. Having a summary of laws gives them knowledge of their legal rights, which is necessary for them to engage in legal battles.
3. Training lay advocates: If poor people are trained properly they could take on the roles of advocates and appear before tribunals and boards to solve their own problems.
4. Educating groups for confrontation: Lawyers can prepare people for confrontation against whom the poor people have grievances.

Speaking notes for a conference in Beijing, China highlights the purpose of public legal education (including enhancing access to justice, public knowledge, self help and community organizing for legal or social change), how do you decide what topics to address, who is your audience, how do you ensure that the information you provide is useful and accurate and how do you distribute it.

Chapter 11: “Poverty Law” Legal Aid Services

The Ontario Legal Aid R eview was established by the Ontario government in December 1996 as an independent task force, with a mandate to undertake a comprehensive review of legal aid in Ontario. The R eview was asked to consider all legal aid programs in the province with the objective of identifying aspects that should be reduced, maintained or enhanced in order that the current and future legal needs of low-income residents of Ontario can be met in the most effective and efficient way possible.

This chapter discusses poverty law legal aid services, including the nature of poverty law needs and the context in which those needs are currently addressed in Ontario i.e. in community clinics. It goes on to make several recommendations relating to poverty law services within the clinic system, specifically in relation to: community governance, clinic accountability, the relationship of the community clinic to the larger legal aid system, clinics’ scope of services, and gaps in poverty law coverage.

The Self-Represented Litigants Project of the Court Services division of the Nova Scotia Department of Justice surveyed judges, court staff and self-represented litigants (SRLs) to identify the greatest needs for courts and SRLs and to make recommendations to improve services and develop realistic programs for people representing themselves. The project team also observed 20 court hearings that involved the participation of one or more SRLs. The research confirmed that people representing themselves’ lack of knowledge puts them at a disadvantage in their proceedings, most commonly in relation to family, criminal and small claims matters. The inability to properly represent themselves stems from a lack of knowledge about the pre-filing preparations such as filling out forms, the rules of evidence, and how to present a case. A lack of awareness of where to obtain legal information and the inability to distinguish between legal information and legal advice is also a factor. The study made 20 recommendations for ways to improve the ability of self represented litigants to represent themselves effectively.

This article examines the community clinic system in Ontario, particularly focusing on the reasons for its success. The article points out that there are three fundamental characteristics of community clinics that provide poverty law services: local independence and governance by a community elected board of directors, providing services in the area of poverty law, as well as a broad array of services, including casework, public legal education, community organizing, law reform and test cases.

In 1993, the Canadian Bar Association adopted a Legal Aid Action Plan which focused on two goals: an increase in federal and provincial funding of legal aid services, and the enactment of federal legislation on legal services. This paper provides a knowledge base from which solutions to the legal aid crisis in Canada can be developed.

The paper proposes that the CBA’s platform on legal aid include the following specific points:

• Legal aid is an essential public service, like medical care.
• The crucial role of public funding for legal services that provide access to justice for low-income persons must be affirmed.
• Funding for legal aid plans must be increased, and this increased funding should be linked to compliance with minimum national standards for legal aid services.
• Appropriate eligibility criteria for civil and criminal legal aid coverage applicable throughout the country should be developed.

The federal government should renew its commitment to legal aid by:

• increasing its financial contribution;
• taking a leadership role in negotiating national standards for legal aid;
• creating a national civil legal aid tariff;
• substituting cost-sharing agreements for federal transfer payments in order to hold provincial governments accountable for their spending on civil legal aid;
• undertaking extensive consultations on the legal aid needs of specific groups including women, native communities and persons with disabilities;
• allocating a new and stable fund of money for civil legal aid and making it the responsibility of the Department of Justice;
• promoting and funding pilot projects to foster innovation in legal aid delivery;
• assisting in the information-sharing and coordination of reform efforts among jurisdictions;
• developing and implementing a “legal aid impact statement” to proactively identify federal laws, procedures or policies that affect the demand for legal aid;
• undertaking ongoing research into strategies to implement law and procedures that encourage access to justice and an efficient, integrated justice system; and
• promoting national equity in the provision of legal aid.

This is a study of the legal problems that, for the most part, people do not take to the formal justice system to resolve. It looks at legal problems experienced by the public in their daily lives, based on a survey of 6665 adult Canadians. The author concludes that “access to justice services can play an important role in building an inclusive society, diminishing social disadvantage, dependency and the related costs to public service. Access to justice gives effect to full citizenship, assisting people without the means to do so themselves to resolve or avoid the problems that might limit their ability to enjoy the benefits that are the fundamental purposes of society.”

This paper explores the role of Public Legal Education and Information (PLEI) in the delivery of poverty law services, specifically within the context of the Ontario legal clinic system. It reviews the poverty law scholarship to highlight the potential of PLEI and then examines its role within the context of the clinic system. Finally, PLEI is examined from an adult education framework, informal learning, to focus on the tensions that practitioners face daily with their clients.

Since the repeal of the Canada Assistance Plan (CAP) in 1995, social assistance and civil legal aid have been in decline, with devastating effects for the poorest women. On its face, CAP was neither a gender-specific nor a human rights-promoting instrument. But, the spending designations and the standards set out in CAP were an important means of protecting the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living and of promoting women’s human rights. They helped to ensure that the poorest women had basic economic security and access to justice. In 1995, Canadian women were told that shifting to unconditional block funding would increase innovation by the provinces and foster improvements in basic social programs. But after 10 years, the evidence shows that this has not occurred. Instead, social assistance and civil legal aid for family law and poverty law — the areas of law in which women most often need legal assistance — have been devastated by cuts and the imposition of new rules that shrink access.