For Immediate Release
October 5, 2006
OTTAWA – The Canadian Bar Association 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.
“On the advice of our legal team, we’re moving ahead with an appeal,” announced CBA Past President Susan McGrath of Iroquois Falls, Ont., spokesperson on legal aid. “While there’s no question we were disappointed with the court’s decision, the CBA is not giving up without a fight. The CBA is as committed as ever to protect legal aid for people who need it.”
The CBA launched a test case in June 2005 that focused on a broader right to equal access to justice for poor people, rather than the current narrow emphasis on the right to a fair hearing or an injustice in one individual’s case.
The test case relied on novel legal arguments. “The CBA argued that it is unreasonable to insist that people with low incomes who are denied legal aid in cases where, for example, they are unjustly evicted or threatened about the custody of their children, be required to start their own individual constitutional challenge,” says Susan McGrath.
Chief Justice Brenner, the trial judge hearing the case, granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the test case. The CBA’s appeal is based on arguments that the judge erred in law and in fact when he found that the CBA lacked the public interest standing required to bring the action, and erred in law when he held that the CBA’s constitutional claims did not disclose causes of action and when he held that the interests or legal rights claimed were not of a type that would allow him to provide relief, whatever the outcome of the case.
The problem with funding for legal aid is not new. “A decade of cutbacks and decades of neglect have left Canada’s legal aid system in crisis. Provinces are cutting legal aid services, narrowing the types of cases they cover, and raising the eligibility criteria, all of which make it harder to qualify for legal aid services,” says Susan McGrath.
After years of lobbying provincial, territorial, and federal governments to increase funding for legal aid, the CBA decided to move the issue to the courts to ensure the constitutional rights of low-income people.
The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 36,000 lawyers, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.
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CONTACT: Hannah Bernstein, Canadian Bar Association, Tel: (613) 237-2925, ext. 146; E-mail: hannahb@cba.org.
