Printer Friendly

New - Legal Aid Leader Award

New Publication

The CBA is happy to announce the release of Moving Forward on Legal Aid: Research on Needs and Innovative Approaches. As part of the CBA’s current look at renewing our approach to advancing access to justice, we commissioned Melina Buckley, LL.B., Ph.D., to prepare this report for the CBA. She considered the current state of legal aid, both in Canada and internationally, and also innovative approaches to delivering access to justice.  Dr. Buckley’s report provides a unique and important summary of policy developments and current research, new delivery options, and an overview of recent legal aid initiatives. It concludes with suggestions for future CBA efforts to improve access to justice. We expect that those suggestions will be helpful in informing the work of the Association for years to come.

Years of cutbacks has left Canada’s legal aid system in crisis. The CBA has launched a major national initiative to raise awareness of the importance of adequate legal aid services to our system of justice and to try to resolve the crisis.
 

The CBA believes that lawyers have a responsibility to:

• actively support legal aid programs;
• speak out against threats to government-funded counsel, including underfunding of legal services and funding cutbacks; and
• contribute to a positive dialogue on how to improve legal aid service delivery.

The CBA has five-point platform on legal aid reform:

• Legal aid should be recognized as an essential public service, like health care.
• Public funding should be confirmed as necessary to ensure access to justice for low-income people.
• Public funding for legal aid must be increased.
• National standards for criminal and civil legal aid coverage and eligibility criteria are required.
• The federal government should revitalize its commitment to legal aid.

Legal Aid in Canada (additional information)