Access to Justice: Breaking Down Barriers

This year’s Law Week theme is “Access to Justice: Breaking Down Barriers.” Law Week 2008 is April 14th to 20th and the following are some of the exciting events planned across the province.

Open Houses – Province Wide – April 14th to 20th
Open House events will be held in Fort St. John, Kamloops, Kelowna, Nanaimo, New Westminster, Port Coquitlam, Vancouver, and Victoria throughout Law Week with a variety of events being planned including mock trials, free law classes, question and answer sessions, citizenship ceremonies, court house tours, displays, and exhibits from justice and legal organizations including interactive exhibits, and in Vancouver a public forum with senior justice representatives moderated by CBC’s Ian Hanomansing.

Fun Run – Locarno Beach, Vancouver – Sunday, April 6th
Bring your family and come out and join us for the 5th annual CBABC Law Week 5km Run/Walk (www.cba.org/bc/pdf/law_week/fun_run_2008.pdf).

Dial-A-Lawyer – Province Wide – Saturday, April 19th
This year we will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Dial-A-Lawyer. Lawyers will be available toll free to provide free legal advice over the phone to members of the public across the province.

Student Mentor Program – Lower Mainland – April 2008
Students will be matched to spend a half-day with lawyers in their place of work and lawyers will be paired with schools to attend a high school class.

Student Contests – April 2008
High school students from across the province will be participating in the Barry Sullivan Law Cup Public Speaking Contest and an Essay Contest. The Finalist round of the Barry Sullivan Law Cup will be held at the Vancouver Art Gallery Heritage Courtrooms on April 17th and the finalist judges will include Chief Justice Finch, Chief Justice Brenner and Chief Judge Stan Field.

More information about all Law Week events and volunteer opportunities can be found at www.bclawweek.org.

This article was published in the February 2008 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2008, all rights reserved.