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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 12, 2002

OTTAWA — A Nova Scotia university student, who tried to represent himself after being refused legal aid, learned first-hand how an underfunded legal aid system denied him his basic rights. Luckily for "Dean" his story had a happy ending.

Dean's story began one night when police raided the house where he and some friends were partying. Unbeknownst to Dean, marijuana was being grown in the basement and the police arrested and charged everyone on the premises with cultivation of marijuana.

There was no evidence linking Dean to the crime other than the fact that he was on the premises, and he had a very reasonable explanation as to why he was there. He refused to plead guilty, intending to fight the charges in court.

Dean's woes grew. After being charged, he was fired from his job. Without a source of income, he applied to Legal Aid for help, only to discover Nova Scotia Legal Aid won't fund anyone charged with an "enterprise crime." He appealed, but was again refused legal aid.

Dean faced the legal system alone and was threatened with contempt of court during the jury selection process when he insisted that he couldn't manage without legal representation. He was eventually helped by a lawyer, who agreed to provide legal services as a favour — as lawyers often do for people in Dean's situation. The lawyer has no idea if he'll ever be paid for his work.

This true story illustrates yet again how our underfunded legal aid system fails ordinary Canadians. The Canadian Bar Association's Legal Aid Watch tracks examples like Dean's and will continue to bring them to the attention of legislators and media until governments accept their responsibility to properly fund legal aid once and for all.

The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 37,000 lawyers, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.

The full text of "Dean's" story is attached.

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CONTACT: Hannah Bernstein, Canadian Bar Association, 500 - 865 Carling Ave. , Ottawa, ON, K1S 5S8 Tel: (613) 237-2925, ext. 146; E-mail: hannahb@cba.org