Canadian Forum on Civil Justice

The “Edmonton Judicial District Report” for the Alberta Legal Services Mapping Project is now available. Edmonton is the sixth Judicial District to be completed for the project. The Report addresses the current state of legal and related service delivery in the Edmonton Judicial District, highlights key barriers and gaps in legal service delivery and provides recommendations to enhance service delivery in the District.

• The Ontario Civil Legal Needs Project has released “Listening to Ontarians,” the results of their research into the legal needs of low- and middle-income Ontarians.
• The Law Foundation of Ontario is accepting grant applications to the Access to Justice Fund.  The Fund is distributing awards from a cy-près class action settlement to projects across Canada that support public access to justice.
• The BC Branch of the Canadian Bar Association and the Law Society of British Columbia are partnering in a commission on the future of legal aid in the province.
• British Columbia’s new Supreme Court Civil Rules and Supreme Court Family Rules have been revised by B.C. Reg. 119/2010 prior to their going into effect on 1 July 2010.
• The Canadian Centre for Court Technology will be presenting the inaugural Canadian Forum on Court Technology in Ottawa, 22-23 September 2010.

The Board of the Canadian Forum is delighted to wish our long-time Executive Director, Diana Lowe, QC, well in her new position as Executive Legal Counsel to the Associate Chief Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta.

Diana’s contribution to the Canadian Forum has been enormous. Under her guidance, and with the support of justice organizations across Canada, the Forum has grown from an innovative idea to a nationally and internationally recognised leader in civil justice reform and research.

Diana will be continuing in her role with the Forum over the coming months, ensuring a smooth transition for the organization and the many key projects we have underway, including the ground breaking Alberta Legal Services Mapping Project and a proposed major national project that will examine the costs of civil justice.

Please join us in congratulating Diana on her new position.

Thank you for your continued interest in and support for the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice.

Executive Committee of the Board

An updated version of the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice Clearinghouse is now live on our website. The Clearinghouse is a bibliographic database with over 20 000 titles, initially created in 1998 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 updated interface features an RSS feed of new materials, which you can subscribe to using a wide variety of news readers. The updated Clearinghouse also introduces faceted browsing, allowing you to explore our subject headings and further refine your searches.

The “St. Paul Judicial District Report” for the Alberta Legal Services Mapping Project is now available. St. Paul is the fifth Judicial District to be completed for the project. The Report addresses the current state of legal and related service delivery in the St. Paul Judicial District, highlights key barriers and gaps in legal service delivery and provides recommendations to enhance service delivery in the District.

Summary of Key Points

The “Medicine Hat Judicial District Report” for the Alberta Legal Services Mapping Project is now available. Medicine Hat is the fourth Judicial District to be completed for the project. The Report addresses the current state of legal and related service delivery in the Medicine Hat Judicial District, highlights key barriers and gaps in legal service delivery and provides recommendations to enhance service delivery in the District.

Summary of Key Points

The “Lethbridge Judicial District Report” for the Alberta Legal Services Mapping Project is now available. Lethbridge is the third Judicial District to be completed for the project. The Report addresses the current state of legal and related service delivery in the Lethbridge Judicial District, highlights key barriers and gaps in legal service delivery and provides recommendations to enhance service delivery in the District.

Summary of Key Points

What does it cost to access justice in Canada? How much is “too much”? And how do we know? — Literature Review
Kim Taylor & Ksenia Svechnikova

This review identified publications related to costs of justice to investigate how costs have been measured and reported especially in empirical research studies. Of 1,500 journal publications, studies, reports, websites and media articles initially identified only 86 (59 in English and 27 in French) proved useful to the review. Of these, many offered valuable theoretical insights, but few offered concrete examples of how and where costs accrued, or suggestions for developing a viable methodology for assessing the cost of justice. Key international empirical studies are considered in detail and critically assessed.

In 2009, the Canadian Bar Law for the Future Fund provided funding for research to support the continued expansion of the Inventory of Reforms.  We have added over 70 new records to the Inventory through this research, and the Final Report of the project is now available.

The focus of this project was on initiatives intended to reduce the cost of justice, which is a priority of the national Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters. Initiatives have been added to the Inventory in the areas including legal information clinics and advice lines, non-binding dispute resolution options, litigation management, small claims, disclosure, discovery and others.

We are pleased to announce that Peter Michalyshyn, QC has joined the Board of the Forum.