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People-Centered Justice and the Civil-Criminal Divide
A considerable amount of Canadian legal scholarship exists within the boundaries of either civil or criminal law. Each camp generally invites separate consideration of gaps, standards, trends, shifts, and other issues. Rarely do these two domains of scholarship meet. A similar divide is apparent in legal practice, with the civil and criminal legal systems commonly
Read NowThe Halton Legal Health Check-Up Project is About to Go into the Field
The Legal Health Check-Up project, being developed by the Halton Community Legal Clinic, is moving out of the planning phase and into the field. Now that training for the seven intermediary partners in the use of the Check-up tool has been completed and the research instruments have been developed, the project is entering a preliminary
read nowWhen Access Isn’t Enough: Examining the Intersection Between Social Inequality and Access to Justice
In her recently published book, On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City, sociologist Alice Goffman follows the lives of several young men living in an inner-city community in Philadelphia. Through immersive fieldwork and rich ethnographic detail she illustrates “how fear of confinement has transformed work, health, and family life, causing men to disengage
read nowConnecting Ottawa
In December 2008, the Law Foundation of Ontario tasked Karen Cohl and George Thomson with the responsibility of finding durable solutions for individuals facing linguistic and rural barriers to accessing justice. In response to their findings, a pilot project funded by the Law Foundation and Connecting Ottawa was born. I had the opportunity to intern
read nowExtending the Reach of Legal Aid – The Halton Legal Health Check-Up Project
In an effort to overcome the realties of unmet legal needs in South Western Ontario, the Halton Community Legal Services (HCLS) has created the Legal Health Check-Up project. Primarily funded by Legal Aid Ontario’s Fund to Strengthen Capacity of Community and Legal Clinics, this initiative maintains that the key to effective resolution of legal problems lies in early and
read nowReforming the Family Justice System in Alberta
Reforming the Family Justice System The Reforming the Family Justice System initiative is a collaboration between government, the Courts, and a number of organizations, academics and professionals that work within the family justice system in Alberta. The initiative is founded on the reports of the Family Working Group and the Prevention, Triage and Referral Working Group of
read nowReflections on the Action Committee Colloquium Report
In January, the Action Committee held a two day Colloquium with a cross-section of stakeholders in the access to justice community. This meeting provided a platform from which to transform key access to justice recommendations into actionable strategies. The Colloquium featured breakout groups and keynote speakers that engaged both the innovation and institutional and structural
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