Legal Aid Resources - Links

Ways to improve legal aid

• Moving Forward on Legal Aid: Research on Needs and Innovative Approaches (2010)
  Author Melina Buckley considers the current state of legal aid, both in Canada and internationally, and reviews innovative approaches to delivering access to justice. Dr. Buckley’s report provides a unique and important summary of policy developments and current research, new delivery options, and an overview of recent legal aid initiatives. It concludes with suggestions for future CBA efforts to improve access to justice.

• Foundation for Change: Report of the Public Commission on Legal Aid in British Columbia (March 2011)
  After extensive consultations, the author, Leonard Doust, concludes that legal aid is “an essential public service in our society” and makes nine major recommendations to overcome the deficiencies in the current system. The CBA provided input to the Commission, October 2010.

• L’accès à la justice est en danger! Barreau du Québec (2010)
  A review of the status of legal aid services in Quebec with a recommendation to increase the income level threshold for legal aid eligibility so fewer people are excluded from services.

• Making Legal Aid a Reality: A Resource Book for Policy Makers and Civil Society (2009)
  A compilation of well-tested strategies from several countries for providing legal aid services.

• Report of the Legal Aid Review Ontario (2008)
  By Michael Trebilcock

• Report of the Review of Large and Complex Criminal Case Procedures Ontario (November 2008)
  By the Honourable Patrick LeSage and Michael Code

• If there were legal aid in New Brunswick - A Review of Legal Aid Services in New Brunswick (September 2007)
  By Dr. J. Hughes & E.L. MacKinnon

• Expanding Horizons: Rethinking Access to Justice in Canada (2000)
  A report on a symposium hosted by the Department of Justice Canada.

• Legal Aid Research Series - A Profile of Legal Aid Services in Family Law Matters in Canada (June 2002)
  A Department of Justice Canada research report.

Research about legal aid services

• Six Degrees from Liberation: Legal Needs of Women in Criminal and Other Matters (2002)

• Immigration and Refugee Legal Aid Cost Drivers (2002)

• Representation for Immigrants and Refugee Claimants (October 2002)

• An Analysis of Poverty Law Services in Canada (July 2002)

• A Profile of Legal Aid Services in Family Law Matters in Canada (October 2002)

• The Unmet Need for Criminal Legal Aid (2003)

• A Synthesis of the Issues and Implications Raised by the Immigration and Refugee Legal Aid Research (2003)

• Study of the Legal Services Needs of Prisoners in Federal Penitentiaries in Canada (July 2002)

• Legal Aid, Courtworker, and Public Legal Education and Information Needs in the Yukon Territory (October 2002)

• Study of the Legal Services Provided to Penitentiary Inmates by Legal Aid Plans and Clinics in Canada (October 2002)

• Legal Aid, Courtworker, and Public Legal Education and Information Needs in the Northwest Territories (October 2002)

• The Purchaser-Supplier Approach in Legal Aid (June 2002)

• Legal Aid Eligibility and Coverage in Canada (October 2002)

• A Review of Brydges Duty Counsel Services in Canada (2004)

• Court Site Study of Adult Unrepresented Accused in the Provincial Criminal Courts (September 2002)
  Part 1: Overview Report

• A Study on Legal Aid and Official Languages in Canada (May 2002)

• Legal Aid in Canada: Resource and Caseload Statistics (2008/2009)
  A Statistics Canada report.

• Legal Aid in Canada: Description of Operations (March 2001)
  A Statistics Canada report.

• Legal Aid in Canada: Resources and Caseload Statistics (2000-01)
  A Statistics Canada report.

• Legal Service Provision in Northern Canada (January 2003) 
  Summary of research in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Yukon

International

• Access to Justice: The Emerging Consensus and Some Questions and Implications (January - February 2011) 
  Article about American access to justice crisis, in Judicature.

• A Strategic Framework for Access to Justice in the Federal Civil Justice System (September 2009)
  Report by the Access to Justice Taskforce Attorney-General’s Department, Australia.

• American Bar Association Resource Center for Access to Justice Initiatives