About the Clearinghouse
The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice has created the Civil Justice Clearinghouse to provide the Canadian public and the civil justice community with greater access to information on civil justice systems and civil justice reform initiatives. The Clearinghouse was initially compiled during the summer of 1998, and it is updated on an ongoing basis. The following resources have been used in compiling the database:
- Existing databases
- Key contacts from across Canada
- Background materials for our News and Views articles
- Background materials for research conducted at the Forum
The Clearinghouse includes nearly 20,000 bibliographic records of published materials such as books, conference proceedings and articles, as well as information on unpublished (or not previously published) materials, such as conference presentations, draft reports and policies. Where possible, full text documents are also included, especially for documents that are hard to find or are not widely available. Materials from other common law and civil law jurisdictions, for instance the Woolf Report, are included where relevant.
Given the recent nature of most civil justice developments, emphasis is placed on works produced within the last ten years. However, the database includes books published since 1960, and journal articles date from 1992.
All items are classified with both French and English subject headings, regardless of the language of the original publication. The subject headings have been developed in-house, and we welcome input on them (email us at cjforum@law.ualberta.ca). Materials in other languages are not included unless there is a version available in either English or French.
Expanding the Clearinghouse
We are looking to members of the civil justice community to assist us in identifying the work that has been and is being done. Specifically, we hope to get input from:
- The Bar
- The Judiciary
- Court Administrators
- Rules Committees
- Governments
- Academics
- Continuing Legal Educators
- Public Legal Educators
- Reform Institutes
- Legal Aid Societies
- Arbitrators, and
- Mediators.
We hope these Key Contacts will provide materials to the Forum to be incorporated into the Clearinghouse. Where possible, we intend to make these materials available full-text on our website, and failing that, to provide access by linking to other websites or to the holder of the information. If you can assist us in our efforts, please contact us at cjforum@law.ualberta.ca.
The collection as a whole is copyright the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice. Please Review our Copyright and Disclaimer before accessing this database.