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Legal Aid CBA to Appeal B.C Supreme Court Decision on Constitutionality of Civil Legal Aid The CBA will appeal the Sept. 5 decision of the Supreme Court of British Columbia that dismissed the CBA’s legal aid test case on the constitutionality of civil legal aid in Canada. View Release > More Information: CBA Factum (.pdf, filed March 22, 2007) Letter to Minister of Justice: Legal Aid Funding (.pdf, October 18, 2006) News Release: CBA Launches Test Case to Challenge Constitutional Right to Civil Legal Aid (June 20, 2005) Statement of Claim (.pdf) Statement of Defence – Attorney General of Canada (.pdf) Statement of Defence – Provincial Crown of British Columbia (.pdf) Statement of Defence – Legal Services Society (.pdf) Backgrounder on CBA’s involvement with legal aid The text of the CBA President’s remarks CBA Legal Aid Legal Team Biographies

CBA Position on Legal Aid A decade of cutbacks has left Canada’s legal aid system in crisis. The CBA has launched a major national initiative to raise awareness of the importance of adequate legal aid services to our system of justice and to try to resolve the crisis. The CBA believes that lawyers have a responsibility to: actively support legal aid programs speak out against threats to state-funded counsel, including underfunding of legal services and funding cutbacks, and contribute to a positive dialogue on how to improve legal aid service delivery. The CBA has five-point platform on legal aid reform: Legal aid should be recognized as an essential public service, like health care. Public funding should be confirmed as necessary to ensure access to justice for low-income people. Public funding for legal aid must be increased. National standards for criminal and civil legal aid coverage and eligibility criteria are required. The federal government should revitalize its commitment to legal aid. More >> Access to Justice in Canada: CBA Strategies to Make it Happen (July 2006, .pdf) The Legal Aid Crisis: Time for Action (June 2000, .pdf) How Lawyers Subsidize Legal Aid History of Federal Funding for Legal Aid Delivery Options Resolutions Legal Aid Liaison Committee

EPIIgram Legal aid: make the case (October 2003) The CBA's Legal Aid Watch (May 2000)