Canadian Forum on Civil Justice

The Law Society of Upper Canada has approved a proposal to undertake, in conjunction with Pro Bono Law Ontario, the Ontario Civil Legal Needs project. The project “will focus on civil legal needs from the perspective of the public, particularly low and middle income Ontarians, by directly surveying the public. The project will assess both the legal and social service components of those needs and will identify strategies to best meet those needs. The project also proposes to hold focus groups with legal and social service providers…. See the Access to Justice Committee report for more information.” (Law Society of Upper Canada website)

“Voices from the Field: Needs Mapping Self-help Services in Rural and Remote Communities,” a report commissioned by the BC Supreme Court Self-help Information Centre, was released on July 2. “The goal of this research was to examine civil and family justice needs in rural and remote areas of BC and to explore options for providing access to self-help services to resolve civil and family justice issues.” (Law Courts Education Society website)

The Forum is currently conducting the Alberta Legal Services Mapping Project. This is also a form of legal needs assessment examining existing legal and related services throughout Alberta that fall under the civil, family, administrative and criminal areas of law. The project is assessing access to justice strengths and challenges from the perspectives of the service providers as well as the public. It is using multiple methods for gathering information, including survey-style questionnaires, interviews, case studies and focus groups.

The 2008 national conference of the Public Legal Education Association of Canada will be held in Winnipeg from October 1-3, 2008.

This study by Ann Sherman was presented at the Community Legal Information Association of Prince Edward Island’s 2008 Annual General Meeting.

Canadian Judicial Council Press Release

“The Canadian Judicial Council has released a report on reforms undertaken across Canada to make it easier and more affordable for Canadians to seek justice in the courts. The Chief Justice of Canada, the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, who also heads the Council, has identified access to justice as one of the most important challenges facing the justice system today….

“This report, which was undertaken by a sub-committee of the Council’s Administration of Justice Committee, is based on records developed at its request for the new Inventory of Reforms created by the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice (http://cfcj-fcjc.org/inventory/). The report identifies 60 reforms in the five noted areas covered, ranging from pilot projects to changes that have already become permanent.”

“Justice for Nunavummiut: Partnerships for Solutions” by Travis Anderson and Mary Stratton is now available. This report is drawn from the Civil Justice System and the Public research data specific to Nunavut and to Inuit living in Ottawa (the largest community of Inuit outside of the territory).

We have updated our project page for the Alberta Legal Services Mapping Project (ALSMP). The ALSMP is designed to gain a better understanding of what legal needs Albertans have, the extent to which these needs are currently being met and how access to legal services can be improved. The ALSMP aims to create a province-wide “map” of legal services including information, education, legal advice, legal representation and/or other supports or assistance related to legal problems.

The Research Team is currently mapping the Calgary Judicial District. A Community Working Group has been established and meetings held on April 21 and June 9, 2008. For a break down of the stages of the Project and regular progress updates see our Action Plan.

The BC Family Rules Drafting Group has prepared a Concept Draft of the proposed Supreme Court Family Rules. Members of the judiciary, lawyers, paralegals, advocates, court registry staff and others are encouraged to provide feedback to the Justice Review Task Force by June 30, 2008.

The BC Law Society has also released two new Task Force reports: the Family Law Task Force report on proposed guidelines for the practice of family law, and the Unbundling of Legal Services Task Force report on Limited Retainers.

The Ontario Bar Association has released “Getting it Right: The Report of the Ontario Bar Association Justice Stakeholder Summit,” based on the three-day Justice Stakeholder Summit held in June 2007 which looked at the problems and barriers in the system and developed recommendations for ways that they could be addressed.

The Forum is pleased to present the report from our Into the Future Conference, which we have produced as a special issue of News & Views. We hope that we have been able to capture the tremendous interest, energy and commitment that were expressed in moving forward with reforms aimed at improving our civil justice systems in Canada.

That energy has already been translated into a number of significant new initiatives, which are outlined for you at pages 12 and 13 of this Report.

The priorities that were set for the future are very much the workplan for the Forum. Our commitment at the Conference and to you again today, is to continue to move the agenda for civil justice reform forward.

• Origin of the Into the Future Conference
• Into the Future Part I: Fingers on the Pulse of Civil Justice Systems Today
• Into the Future Part II: The Way Ahead – National Coordination of Civil Justice Reform
• Leading the Action Across the Country
• Carrying on the Dialogue
• Into the Future . . . and Beyond

The goal of the Forum’s new Directory of Socio-Legal Researchers is to create a network of social researchers with the expertise to assist our justice community partners with much needed research about justice issues.

The on-line database contains researchers’ names, contact information, and research backgrounds and abilities. The information is publicly available on the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice’s website so that other researchers and people within the justice community can easily locate research partners with the necessary abilities and interests for future projects.

If you would like to be included in the directory, please contact our Research Director Mary Stratton at mstratto@law.ualberta.ca.