Access to Justice: Breaking Down Barriers
Law Day is a national event created by the CBA celebrating the signing of Canada’s Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Held every April, Law Day provides an important opportunity to help Canadians learn about their justice system and to project a positive image of the legal profession. In many B.C. communities Law Day has expanded into week long activities.

This year’s theme for Law Week is “Access to Justice: Breaking Down Barriers.” Law Week 2008 marks the 25th Anniversary of the Dial-A-Law Program.

The following provides an overview of some of the Law Week events that will be held across the province. Additional information about these events can be found at www.bclawweek.org. We hope you will come out and join the events in your community!

Open Houses and Other Events in Local Communities
Open Houses will be held in the following communities and will include a variety of fun and educational activities such as mock trials, free law classes, citizenship ceremonies, courthouse tours, displays and demonstrations from a variety of justice and social service providers, Q & A sessions with senior justice system representatives, and police seminars:

• Fort St. John – April 16th
• Kamloops – April 19th
• Kelowna – April 19th
• Nanaimo – April 12th
• New Westminster – April 15th
• Port Coquitlam – April 17th
• Vancouver – April 19th
• Victoria – April 19th

The Vancouver Open House will include a public forum moderated by Ian Hanomansing with Chief Justice Brenner, Chief Judge Stansfield, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass, VPD Deputy Chief Bob Rich, Vancouver Regional Crown Counsel Terry Schultes, QC, and LSS Executive Director Mark Benton, QC participating as panelists.

Dial-A-Lawyer
On April 19th CBABC will hold its province-wide “Dial-A-Lawyer” program between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. During that time, members of the public are invited to call and speak with a lawyer for up to 15 minutes on the following topics: Business Law, Wills Estates & Trusts Law, Criminal Law, Tort and Motor Vehicle Law, Family Law.

Student Participants from the 2007 Barry Sullivan Law Cup Public Speaking Contest



Student Contests
The following events provide valuable opportunities for secondary school students to improve their understanding about the law and the legal system. This year’s theme for these events is the “Law: Past, Present & Future.”

Barry Sullivan Law Cup Public Speaking Contest
This annual event is one of the cornerstone events held in B.C. during Law Week.

Open to students enrolled in grades 11 and 12; this year’s event will be held on April 17th in the Vancouver Art Gallery Heritage Courtrooms. The Law Cup is named in memory of Barry Sullivan for his contributions to both the legal and educational professions.

Essay Contest
This contest is open to students in grades 8 to 12 from across the province.

Fun Run/Walk
Members of the legal and justice system community and their families and friends are invited to come out and participate in the fifth annual Fun Run/Walk that will be held on April 6th at Locarno Beach Park.

Student Mentor Program
Lawyers and judges are matched to attend high school classes to provide a valuable learning opportunity for students who have an interest in pursuing a legal career.

Law Week Sponsors & Partners
We would like to thank our sponsors of this year’s law week events:

Flash Drives
Fun Run Pedometers	Fun Run Refreshments
Fun Run Gym Passes	Barry Sullivan Law Cup Public Speaking Contest
Kamloops Law Day Sponsor	Kelowna Law Day Sponsor
Fort St John Law Day Sponsor	Nanaimo Law Day Sponsor
Law Day Sponsor	Victoria Law Day Sponsor

In addition, we would also like to thank our partner organizations for all their contributions to this year’s events:


Finally, we would also like to thank the many lawyers and others for volunteering their valuable time to make these events a huge success.

This article was published in the April 2008 issue of BarTalk. © 2008 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.