For Immediate Release
February 19, 2005
CBA Announces Legal Team to Lead Court Challenge on Constitutional Right to Legal Aid
CHARLOTTETOWN – The Canadian Bar Association has named a four-person, blue-ribbon legal team to launch a test case to challenge British Columbia’s legal aid plan with the goal of establishing a constitutional right to civil legal aid in Canada.
Headed by CBA Past President J.J. Camp, Q.C., of the Vancouver law firm of Camp Fiorante Matthews, the team includes Sharon Matthews of the same firm, and Melina Buckley, Ph.D. and Gwen Brodsky, Ph.D. also of Vancouver.
“We believe that a constitutional right to civil legal aid must be established in this country, and we believe that the situation is urgent,” said CBA President Susan McGrath of Iroquois Falls, Ont., in making the announcement at the 2005 CBA Mid-Winter Meeting. “Without legal aid, access to justice is a hollow phrase, as many people simply cannot take advantage of their legal rights.”
The CBA considers a challenge to the constitutionality of legal aid to be ground-breaking litigation. “We welcome the opportunity to join the CBA in making legal history,” says lead counsel J.J. Camp.
“Time and again, we have seen how cuts to civil legal aid target people who are already disadvantaged – women and children in family law cases and low-income Canadians, especially those from racial minorities, and those in poverty law disputes,” adds Mr. Camp.
The idea to litigate is one aspect of the CBA’s ongoing commitment to access to justice. The CBA has called for improvements to legal aid for the past decade, specifically for a federal transfer earmarked for civil legal aid and linked to the amount actually spent by a province or territory. This would replace the current system, whereby the federal government makes a global transfer for several social services to the provinces and territories, which individually decide how much, if anything, is spent on civil legal aid.
While the test case continues to progress, the CBA is moving ahead on another front – a resolution calling for governments to work together to establish consistent, Canada-wide eligibility criteria. Currently, there are no national standards or controls over the delivery of civil legal aid. CBA debates the resolution on Saturday, Feb. 19.
The 2005 Mid-Winter Meeting takes place on Saturday, Feb. 19 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and on Sunday, Feb. 20 from 8:30 a.m. until noon in the Edward & Island Rooms at the Delta Prince Edward Hotel. The meeting is open to accredited media.
The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 38,000 lawyers, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.
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CONTACT: Hannah Bernstein, Feb. 18-20, CBA Administration Office, Stanley Room, Delta Prince Edward Hotel. Tel: (902) 368-1563; E-mail: hannahb@cba.org.
Additional resources:
Backgrounder - CBA and Legal Aid
Resolution - Eligibility for Legal Aid
CBA Resolutions on Legal Aid
CBA Legal Aid Legal Team Biographies
Legal Team Biographies
J.J. Camp, Q.C. - J.J. Camp was called to the bar of British Columbia in 1970. He received his appointment as Queens Counsel in 1985. He was President of the British Columbia branch of the Canadian Bar Association in 1985-1986 and of the Canadian Bar Association in 1991-1992. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He has been called to the bar of several provinces and territories.
Over the last 15 years, J.J. Camp has concentrated his practice in product liability and aviation cases acting primarily for plaintiffs. Since the inception of the Class Proceedings Act in British Columbia in 1995, he has also practiced heavily in the area of class actions. For example, he was lead counsel in pursuing hepatitis C litigation and in resolving that litigation on a pan-Canadian basis. The settlement amount was valued at $1.6 billion.
J.J. Camp is a frequent lecturer at continuing legal education courses across Canada. He has appeared on approximately 15 cases in the Supreme Court of Canada, and has established a reputation as one of Canada's leading litigation lawyers. He has served as a director on the Board of Directors for the Vancouver Academy of Music, The Lawyers' Inn and the British Columbia Public Interest Advocacy Center.
Sharon Matthews - Sharon Matthews obtained bachelor's degrees in Commerce (Hon.) and Law at the University of British Columbia in 1992 and was called to the bar in 1993. She practices in Vancouver with Camp Fiorante Matthews.
Sharon confines her practice to civil litigation with an emphasis on product liability, aviation litigation and class actions. She has appeared before all levels of court in British Columbia and before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Alberta Court of Queens' Bench.
Sharon was a co-founder, Secretary and co-Chair of the Canadian Bar Association B.C. Branch (CBABC) Class Actions Section. She has been an elected member of Provincial Council of the CBABC from Vancouver County since 2001 and she sits on the CBABC Executive Committee. She chairs the CBABC Resolutions & Bylaws Committee and the Sections Committee. Sharon was the 2003 recipient of the CBABC President's Medal.
Sharon was a member of the Advocates Club from 1998 to 2002. She is a member of the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia (TLABC) and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA). She has written numerous papers on civil litigation and class actions and she has lectured for the CBA, TLABC, the Canadian Institute, UBC Law School and the Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver. Sharon Matthews is a co-manager of Camp Fiorante Matthews.
Dr. Melina Buckley - Dr. Melina Buckley is a lawyer and legal policy consultant working in the areas of human rights, access to justice and dispute resolution. She has carried out extensive research on legal aid and advocated for enhanced legal aid for over a decade. She has served as co-counsel to interveners in several equality rights cases at the Supreme Court of Canada and has contributed to the legal strategy and arguments in many other Charter, constitutional and human rights cases. She was awarded her Ph.D. in equality rights law by the University of B.C. in 2002 and has published extensively in this field. Ms. Buckley was formerly employed by the CBA, and was integrally involved in two CBA national reports dealing with equality in the administration of justice, the Touchstones Report on women in the legal profession and the Systems of Civil Justice Task Force Report.
Dr. Gwen Brodsky - Dr. Gwen Brodsky is a leading national and international expert on human rights law, with graduate degrees from Harvard Law School and Osgoode Hall. She practises, teaches, and writes in the areas of human rights and constitutional law. A member of the Law Society of British Columbia and the Canadian Bar Association since 1983, she has acted as counsel in many Charter equality rights cases. She is a Director of the Poverty and Human Rights Centre, and an adjunct professor in the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law, where she teaches social and economic rights and the Charter. She has written extensively about equality rights theory, the Charter, and access to justice problems experienced by members of disadvantaged groups.
