Legal Aid
Legal Services Society
April 23, 2008 - 12:28pmLocation
Legal Aid Manitoba
April 23, 2008 - 12:23pmLegal Aid Manitoba providea legal help to people with low incomes.
Location
Dalhousie Legal Aid
April 23, 2008 - 11:37amLocation
Neighbourhood Law Centre
April 23, 2008 - 10:30amLocation
Nova Scotia Legal Aid
April 23, 2008 - 9:52amCommission des services juridiques (English)
April 21, 2008 - 7:40pmLocation
Commission des services juridiques (Français)
April 21, 2008 - 7:39pmLocation
Report of the Ontario Legal Aid Review: A Blueprint for Publicly Funded Legal Services
April 16, 2008 - 8:34pmChapter 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 Legal Aid Crisis: Time for Action
April 16, 2008 - 8:24pmIn 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.
A Seamless Approach to Service Delivery in Legal Aid: Fulfilling a Promise or Maintaining a Myth
April 16, 2008 - 8:19pmThis 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.
