Data Collection is Complete
The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice recently completed a national study that surveyed over three thousand Canadians about their everyday legal problems. The survey is part of “The Cost of Justice: Weighing the Cost of Fair and Effective Resolution to Legal Problems”—an interdisciplinary, five-year long study funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The project seeks to fill the current void of evidence-based information on the economic and social costs of pursuing, or not pursuing, justice through various dispute resolution and prevention pathways.
The Cost of Justice Project is guided by the following key questions:
- What does the civil justice system cost (institutionally and to individual litigants)?
- Who does it serve?
- How well is it meeting the needs of users?
- What is the price of failing to meet the legal needs of Canadians?
We spoke with respondents across the country and found that legal problems are pervasive in the lives of Canadians. Here are some of our initial findings:
- Over 35% of people reported stress, health, family and/or social issues as a result of experiencing legal problems.
- Over a three-year period over 50% of adults reported experiencing one or more legal problems.
- The most common problems were related to consumer, debt, and employment issues.
It is clear from these early results that having one or more legal problems is a significant burden and stressor on Canadians, and that the multi-faceted costs of pursuing justice are high. Deeper survey analysis is currently underway and we look forward to having the results from this data inform access-to-justice action in the courts, as well as within the broader justice and socio-legal scholarly community. Watch for more updates from this and other studies within the Cost of Justice Project in the coming months.
To find out more about the exciting and innovative research happening at the CFCJ, visit www.cfcj-fcjc.org, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter @CFCJ_FCJC.