1. Introduction One of the main contributions that technology can make to law is providing innovative ways of promoting access to justice. In this article, I will analyze one particular kind of technological solution to this problem: gamification of educative software. First, access to justice will be defined as a broad concept, including the idea of “law as a life skill.” Second, I...
CLEO’s Fiona MacCool on accessible information In November 2014, the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice launched a new series on the A2J blog titled “Access to Justice Advocates.” The series is a response to recent reports that have underscored the importance of innovation and imagination in the pursuit of access to justice. At CFCJ, we understand that such efforts come down to people—to the diverse...
Let’s celebrate the diversity of Canadian families on this Family Day In 2013, British Columbia’s Premier Christy Clark established the province’s Family Day holiday with a throne speech that celebrated the diversity of Canadian families, “large and small; same sex; culturally diverse; foster families and adopted children; new Canadians coming to a new world; a single mother caring for her young...
Amidst a generally perceived crisis in access to justice, increasing emphasis has recently been placed on the potential role of paralegals to offer affordable, efficient, and effective legal assistance to people with unmet legal needs. The Paralegals and Access to Justice case study was initiated by Professor David Wiseman of University of Ottawa, Faculty of Common Law, to investigate the extent...
Research must always go hand-in-hand with action and implementation. While the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice primarily focuses on access to justice research and advocacy, it also recognizes the importance of putting the recommendations and strategies that are developed by evidence-based research into action. Indeed, it can be said that research, while important, accomplishes little if it does...
In February, we introduced the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice’s (CFCJ) “Cost of Justice” project, a research initiative designed to determine the legal, economic, and social costs and benefits of pursuing, or not pursuing, justice. In an attempt to determine these costs, the project has numerous studies underway, some of which focus on regional and provincial issues, while some are national in...
Eight years ago, our Chief Justice, the Right Honourable Beverly McLachlin, called on Canadians to improve access to justice in Canada, or continue the slow but unacceptable march towards legal inequality – for as she has so rightly repeated in her ensuing campaign, “there is no justice without access to justice.” Two years later, in 2008, Justice McLachlin made access to justice a national...
What are the costs of providing civil justice to Canadians? What are the costs of not providing access to civil justice for Canadians? These two questions are at the heart of one of the exciting projects underway at the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice (CFCJ). “The Cost of Justice: Weighing the Cost of Fair and Effective Resolution to Legal Problems” is a 5-year, SSHRC funded, interdisciplinary...