An increasing number of Canadians are facing barriers to a justice system that is perceived as out of touch and out of reach.
Western Law brought together influential leaders to discuss solutions to this growing problem at an access to justice symposium held at the Law School in February.
The conference, spearheaded by Doug Ferguson, director of Community Legal Services (CLS) at Western, featured keynote remarks by Fred Headon, president of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) and Tom Conway, treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada.
“Canadians feel that with the high cost of legal services, the courts are not accessible and that people are not given a fair opportunity to be heard,” said Ferguson in his opening remarks.
“This is eroding the faith of Canadians in the rule of law and, by extension, their faith in our democratic system.”
A number of barriers to justice were highlighted at the symposium, including long delays to get to court; increasing numbers of unrepresented litigants; underserviced rural areas; high cost of legal services; and lack of adequate technology.
In his address, Headon noted that compared to other countries, Canada’s performance on access is “abysmal.”
“When it comes to access to legal aid, in a survey of 66 countries around the world, Canada ranked 54th,” said Headon.
“The lack of access to justice is an injustice.” Headon highlighted the CBA’s recent report, “Reaching Equal Justice,” which outlines 31 recommendations.
These include specific targets for law schools. “Legal education and law students will have a major role to play in advancing access to justice,” said Headon.
A panel that focused on the role of legal education and access to justice featured former Ontario attorney general Chris Bentley; Legal Aid Ontario CEO Bob Ward; Ontario Bar Association president Pascale Daigneault; Pro Bono Students Canada national director Nikki Gershbain; Margaret Capes, CLS review counsel; and Michael Lerner, bencher, Law Society of Upper Canada.
Law Society treasurer Tom Conway delivered his keynote address on the recent report that came out of the treasurer’s advisory group on access to justice. The report calls for full integrating access to justice into the core business and functions of the Law Society.
“Where possible we need to consider liberalizing our rules and regulations and make it easier for people to get the legal advice or information that they need,” said Conway.
Conway said the legal professions must “redefine professionalism and regain a focus on serving the public.” A second panel at the symposium debated the role of the legal profession in London.
The panel featured Janet Froud, district area director, Legal Aid Ontario; Justice Jeanine Leroy, Ontario Court of Justice; Mary Potter, Crown attorney, Middlesex; Justice Linda Templeton, Superior Court of Justice; Jason Voss, review counsel, CLS; and Bill Woodward, president of the Middlesex Law Association.
In his closing remarks, Doug Ferguson asserted that the time for talking about access to justice has passed. “We need to take action now,” he said. “The reports of the CBA Access to Justice Committee and the National Action Committee show us the way. We need to get moving.”
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