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News and Views Issue 2: Fall 1999

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The Civil Justice System and the Public



The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice is coordinating a research proposal designed to involve the public in the process of court reform. We have been joined by partners from across Canada from academia, the judiciary, the legal profession, court administration and the public to conduct research and develop mechanisms for better communication between the courts and the public, with a view to improving both the operation of the civil justice system and the public perception of the system.

Studies of the civil justice system have accepted the need for reform of the system and concluded that the public, as a primary participant in the system, should play a key role in reform efforts. A number of the many recommendations of the Canadian Bar Association Systems of Civil Justice Task Force Report are aimed at increasing the responsiveness of the system to the needs and expectations of the public. These recommendations seek to both increase access to the civil justice system and to develop effective two-way communication between the courts and the public. Our study will advance these important recommendations of the Task Force.

We begin with the widely accepted belief that there are significant barriers which prevent access to our justice system. While discussion has now started about how to improve the system, the public is generally unaware of the discussion, which means that they are not involved in the reform efforts, and their needs and expectations are not being voiced. Our work will begin by studying the relationship between the courts and the public, including identifying and investigating barriers to the public's involvement. We will be looking for ways to involve all parts of society in the study. Our focus in the second stage of the research will be on developing methods of communication between the courts and the public. The third stage will involve pilot projects to begin testing some of these communication models, from which we hope to make concrete recommendations which will improve communication and, ultimately, improve access by increasing the ability of the civil justice system to speak to, hear and respond to the public.

Our current partners include: We are continuing to add partners and are interested in including groups which face particular barriers to accessing our civil justice system as well as the traditional players in our civil justice system.

We submitted an initial proposal to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council in the spring and have been invited to proceed to the second stage in a two-stage application process. Our full proposal will be submitted by October 1, 1999; between now and then we will be refining our research design and determining the role and contribution of each of our partners.

We would be greatly assisted in the development of our research proposal if those of you who are involved in or aware of initiatives relating to communication between the courts and the public would provide us with details. Please contact the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice with information about your program or if you are interested in learning about this exciting research proposal.