People-centered approaches have quickly become the norm in access to justice. By the term norm I mean essentially the same thing as the use of the term in sociology, a widely accepted expectation or rule of behaviour – a way of doing things. People-centricity has escaped the fate of becoming either a mot du jour or a term widely accepted but deemed nothing new, greeted with the assertion; We have always done that. We just didn’t have a name for it. This escape from the ordinary lies in its roots in the legal needs literature and in a fortuitous turn . . . [more]

In January 2022, headlines across Canadian media ignited a controversy involving Kaycee Madu, Canada’s first Black provincial justice minister. The reports centered on Madu receiving a traffic ticket from a police officer after a traffic stop and subsequently calling the police chief to discuss his concerns over the traffic stop. Almost immediately, a media narrative emerged suggesting that Madu had attempted to use his political influence to avoid the ticket – a narrative that spread quickly, despite the police chief’s clear statement that no such request had been made.

Minister Madu explained that his call was not an attempt to . . . [more]

The Taliban’s unlawful takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 has become a “human rights catastrophe.” Afghan women and girls are being erased from public life as their rights are systematically annihilated.

On 26 September 2024, Canada announced a plan to take the Taliban to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over their violations of Afghanistan’s obligations under the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The joint plan has been launched by Australia, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands, with support from 22 other countries.

UN experts and human rights organizations are applauding . . . [more]

Professor John Lande has just published a terrific article “Theory and Practice of Mediation Representation”. He has also posted a summary here. Professor Lande acknowledges that there is much more written about how to mediate (as mediator) than how to represent clients in mediation (as counsel). Given that it is very common for lawyers to support clients in mediation, he gathers the best existing literature on the subject and presents both a theoretical framework for analyzing mediation representation and practical techniques for lawyers to use. There are helpful tables and checklists describing tasks for both lawyers and mediators. . . . [more]

Ongoing barriers to access to justice remain a persistent problem throughout our legal system, particularly for those living on low incomes. In law, as across all areas of society, there is much interest in the potential to harness technological innovations to help address those barriers. Legal regulators in Canada and abroad are taking a variety of approaches aimed at unlocking the potential of technology-based legal services, while also continuing to protect the public from harm. Efforts in Canadian provinces, however, do not seem to be generating initiatives that will benefit people most in need of more accessible justice. We think . . . [more]

The Crisis of Court and Tribunal Delays and the Loss of Faith in the Justice System

Timely delivery of justice is not just a legal ideal; it’s a societal necessity. In Canada, however, this ideal is increasingly out of reach due to mounting court and tribunal backlogs.[1] The Canadian justice system has long grappled with delays, but recent figures underscore a crisis of unprecedented proportions. Following the COVID-10 pandemic, courts and tribunals across the country have had to postpone a vast number of cases. As an example, data from the post-pandemic Tribunals Ontario 2021-22 Annual Report revealed that the . . . [more]

Across Canada, our justice system is under attack. In British Columbia, the New Democratic Party is erasing the law society, eliminating with it the independence of lawyers. In Alberta, the United Conservative Party sought to cease funding to legal aid – which funds individuals and families who stand at and below the poverty line and cannot afford justice otherwise – and continues to negotiate further oversight and restrictions to limit its reach. In Manitoba, the New Democratic Party removed a politician from caucus when it was discovered he had a connection to a lawyer who represented an accused, despite breaking . . . [more]

Why are some restaurants great, while others are so lousy? The great ones don’t usually have better ingredients in the kitchen, or better written policies, or even more talented people.

Usually, they have better culture. The folks leading and working in great restaurants have developed expectations, attitudes, and social practices that produce terrific results, night after night.

What if the same is true of justice systems? Maybe culture is the reason why some courts, tribunals, and segments of the bar consistently produce substantively just outcomes after processes that are quick, affordable, and procedurally fair. And maybe culture is the . . . [more]

While there may be growing consensus about the fact that self-represented litigants (SRLs) are often unsure of court procedures and processes, a recent decision from the Yukon Court of Appeal highlights the significant implications for SRLs who are struggling, and the responsibility on other justice system players to make the process as transparent as possible. In LK v DD, the respondent in a family law application was successful at the Yukon Court of Appeal in overturning family law orders made at a summary trial of the parties’ applications and cross-applications. The Court of Appeal determined that the respondent had . . . [more]

The August 2024 prisoner exchange involving Russia, the United States, and several other countries has been lauded as a triumph of international diplomacy. Foreign hostages were not the only people released by Russia. Rights advocates were joyfully surprised and relieved that several Russian human rights defenders and political prisoners were released as part of the deal.

The August hostage exchange remains darkly tinged with the reality that Russia continues to hold over 1,300 prisoners on politically motivated charges. Worldwide, wrongfully detained people number at least a million. Authoritarian governments also conduct extraterritorial harassment to silence dissidents living abroad.

This column . . . [more]

Earlier this summer, I attended Pride Toronto, an annual festival celebrating the queer community that attracts three million people to its events. Pride Toronto kicks off a wave of pride festivals across Canada throughout the summer.

While I’m not a member of the 2SLGBTQI+ community, it feels very important to show support for those who are, especially given sharply increasing rates of hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation in our country. But like many Canadians, I didn’t always understand this, or know how to be an ally.

Twenty years ago, I was a student at the University of Toronto when . . . [more]

Migrant caregivers are the backbone of Canada’s care economy yet they remain one of the most vulnerable groups in the labour market.^[1] The roughly 25,000, predominantly racialized women migrant caregivers in Canada provide essential care for children, the elderly, people with disabilities, and people in need of ongoing medical care. For decades, Canada has sought to fill critical workforce shortages in the caregiver industry by providing temporary immigration pathways tailored to foreign workers.^[2] Foreign workers arriving mainly from the Global South have temporarily made Canada their home through federal immigration programs like the Live-In Caregiver Program (1992-2014), the . . . [more]