B.C. legal community partners to promote Access to Justice

This past April, Law Week celebrated the 27th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms with CBA sponsored events across the country. Access to justice is the ethos of hundreds of Law Week volunteers in B.C. who strive each year to provide the public with accurate information about the justice system and to familiarize our fellow citizens with legal information sources. The Internet has dramatically revolutionized the way in which people access information. So it is fitting that the B.C. Courthouse Library Society (BCCLS) launched the “Clicklaw” website during this year’s Law Week celebration.

“There are many organizations in B.C. producing legal information and educational materials designed for the public. Clicklaw brings it all together in one place, organizes it from the public’s perspective, and provides easy ways to click through the site to find information,” Johanne Blenkin, Executive Director of the BCCLS explains. “If a member of the public has a legal problem or wants to learn about the law, Clicklaw is a better place to start than googling.”

The simplicity of Clicklaw belies the amazing technology and research behind it. Clicklaw was created as a collaborative project where contributor organizations, who are responsible for their own content, keep adding material to the site. The list of the founding contributors runs the gamut of B.C. institutions committed to educating the public about the law. Blenkin says, “There are 24 organizations formally participating in Clicklaw, including the Canadian Bar Association, B.C. Branch. We’re delighted that the CBABC Dial-A-Law scripts can be accessed through Clicklaw, as they provide basic legal information across a broad range of topics.”

For the CBABC, participating in Clicklaw was a natural extension of its ongoing efforts to harness new technologies for the benefit of its members and to promote access to justice for all British Columbians. Maximizing the advantages of new communication tools is by no means a simple task. The implications go far beyond switching from the page to the screen. While CBABC is increasingly offering online and teleconferenced learning opportunities, and while our Web Manager is continually enhancing website services (see On the Web on page 9), the Branch also works hard to increase the comfort level of our members and the public with the new technologies. Clicklaw marks a milestone in that direction and complements Branch efforts to expand public access to its more than 125 Dial-A-Law scripts from the tried and true telephone to the Internet in written and audio formats.

Effectively utilizing the evolving web (see Practice Talk on page 7), for the advancement of the profession and the needs of the public is essential. We encourage you to share your ideas and suggestions with us.

Clicklaw can be accessed at www.clicklaw.bc.ca. The CBABC website is located at www.cba.org/bc and Dial-A-Law scripts are found at www.dialalaw.org.

This article was published in the June 2009 issue of BarTalk. © 2009 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.