In Re B.C.G.E.U. Dickson C.J. states, «There can not be a rule of law without access, otherwise the rule of law is replaced by a rule of men and women who decide who shall and who shall
not have access to justice.»
As was asserted by the Supreme Court of Canada in British Columbia Government Employees» Union v. British Columbia (Attorney General), [1988] 2 S.C.R. 214 at para. 25, per Dickson C.J.: «There can not be a rule of law without access, otherwise the rule of law is replaced by a rule of men and women who decide who shall and who shall
not have access to justice.»
We already know that this is untrue — otherwise we wouldn't have an access to justice problem in this country.
What this is all about though, or at least it should be all about, is that many people do
not have access to justice, in large part because they do not have access to the legal services they need.
Attorneys at KNP LAW assist and work with PILnet, the Global Network for Public Interest Law, and render free legal services to groups, including grassroots civil organizations, public service foundations, non-profit limited liability companies, as well as individuals who otherwise would
not have access to justice.
Many Americans, however, do
not have any access to the justice system, never mind that of equal access.
Canadians do
not have access to justice.
«I am proud that our government is supporting this great initiative that will open doors for people who would otherwise
not have access to justice.»
The Court considered the Supreme Court of Canada's statement on access to justice in B.C.G.E.U. v. British Columbia (Attorney General), [1988] 2 S.C.R. 214 («BCGEU»)(at 200): «There can not be a rule of law without access, otherwise the rule of law is replaced by a rule of men and women who decide who shall and who shall
not have access to justice.»
A lot of people do
not have access to justice because they can not afford it.
But she points out, as a self - regulating profession, the legal industry must find a way to serve those who would otherwise be excluded: «If legal fees are so out of reach that the average person doesn't have access to the justice system, we have an obligation to fill gaps in the system by requiring the profession to step up to the plate,» she says.
Not exact matches
For now a Department of
Justice internal bulletin
has instructed that, unless border officers
have a search warrant, they need
to take protective measures
to limit intrusions, and make sure their searches do
not access travelers» digital cloud data.
Taplin argues, for example, that if the
Justice Department hadn't forced Microsoft
to open up
access to its browser Google wouldn't
have existed.
Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron, however, said Pai
has «never met a mega-merger he didn't like or a public safeguard he didn't try
to undermine,» calling him «an inveterate opponent of net neutrality, expanded broadband
access for low - income families, broadband privacy, prison - phone
justice, media diversity and more.»
Then the king said
to the wise men who understood the times (for this was the king's manner toward all who knew law and
justice, those closest
to him being Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who
had access to the king's presence, and who ranked highest in the kingdom): «What shall we do
to Queen Vashti, according
to law, because she did
not obey the command of King Ahasuerus brought
to her by the eunuchs?»
«Both the statute and case law surrounding private prosecutions are adamant that courts must protect the right of
access to these private prosecutions, by
not assessing punitive costs against the person seeking
justice - unless the case is frivolous, and never should
have been brought.
In the beginning I did
not have access to pomegranate molasses so I subbed a reduction of pomegranate juice, which doesn't do the cake
justice!
The pronouncement of
Justice Baba Yusuf followed a complaint by Dasuki's lawyer Mr Adeola Adedipe that the legal team for Dasuki
had not been allowed
to have direct
access to him in spite of a court order made on April 6.
Governor Ambode said experience over the years
has shown that societies with equal and unhindered
access to justice have a better environment for economic growth and poverty alleviation than those that do
not.
«We are all shocked that the governor vetoed a bill that
would have reduced racial disparities in the criminal
justice system, helped ensure equal
access to justice for all New Yorkers, provided improved public defense programs for those who can
not afford an attorney, and much - needed mandate relief for counties,» Gradess said.
«NYCHA
has requested addresses on sex offenders from the State Division of Criminal
Justice Services as required by state law, but
has not been given
access to that information,» the spokesperson said.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
has begged
Justice Abdulaziz Anka of the Federal High Court in Lagos
not to give Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN)
access to his account in Guaranty Trust Bank which
has a balance of N75m.
«Disabled people should
not have delayed
access to justice of sometimes several months in order
to first pursue an often futile mandatory reconsideration request
to the DWP.
Access to safe family planning options
not only allows women
to become more economically productive but
would also result in a 75 % decline in unintended pregnancies, unplanned births and induced abortions in developing regions, according
to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive
justice and sexual health research institution.
Governments that don't work with ICE
would lose
access to $ 4 billion in
Justice Department grants.
In contrast, nonprofits tied
to SUNY Polytechnic Institute
have not had their
access to state subsidies suspended, even though they were involved in questionable dealings that are the focus of wide - reaching criminal investigations — that
have yielded significant arrests — by the state attorney general and U.S.
Justice Department.
The same violence that
has subjected women and girls
to «double victimisation» should
not be let
to take away or prevent their
access to justice and protection.
Kids who complete the Pre-K program are far less likely
to drop out of high school or encounter the criminal
justice system than their counterparts who don't
have access.
Switzerland is also a signatory of the 1998 Aarhus Convention on
Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision - making and
Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, though does
not seem
to have ratified it
All that
has been written and said in relation
to the «
access to justice» problem — that is, the fact that the majority of the population can
not obtain legal services at reasonable cost — fails
to contain the necessary solution.
Bridging the digital divide should obviously remain a priority, and stakeholders within the
justice system should
not forget that
not all Canadians can and do know how
to use a computer or even
have access to one.
The annual LSUC filing does
not require lawyers
to attest that they
have abided by the terms of the oath they swore when they were called
to the bar, it does
not require them
to attest that they
have generally complied with the Rules of Professional Conduct, nor does it require them
to attest that they
have sought
to advance any other principles or goals (e.g.,
justice,
access to justice, fairness, quality client service, etc.).
And we won't
have to wring our hands about «
access to justice» anymore, which I'm sure will be a great relief
to everyone else who's tired of listening
to us talk about it.
However, another critique launched at the AMP
has less
to do with its process and more
to do with it's digital nature: «what about those people who don't
have access to a computer, how will they dispute a charge — this is an
access to justice issue».
This isn't a surprise when you consider both crowdfunding for business and for
justice have the same intention:
to fix society's inefficiencies by democratising
access to capital.
The conversations that lawyers should be
having about
access to justice should be about the law itself — the stuff that other people don't understand and can't work with.
If the Legal Aid Agency is
to have a future it should be focused on enabling
access to justice not refusing legal aid, says Jon Robins
What hasn't been addressed is the impact that the inefficiency caused by
having to use different platforms may
have on
access to justice.
But
to use the digital divide as an argument
to stifle the implementation of ODR solutions
to alleviate court dockets and facilitate
access to justice is
not only unwarranted, it's undemocratic since 87 % of Canadians do
have access to computers.
While it could be argued that wholesale distribution of law will create more retail (free or low cost) legal information distribution points and thus increase
access to justice — indeed, it
would solve many of the closed problems of legal information that I listed above — I'm now
not entirely convinced that this is the only way
to go for state government publication efforts.
David Udell, the National Center for
Access to Justice's executive director, says that the biggest story in the 2016 Index is the progress courts
have made
to help individuals who do
not have lawyers.
Therefore, we
would argue that living hundred of miles from a courthouse a greater hurdle
to access to justice than
not having a computer at home.
However, that hasn't worked up until now, and without a systemic shakeup of structure that avails potential clients
to legal professionals interested in
access to justice, the crisis will remain in control of the efficacy desired in all legal systems interested in true
justice.
Failing
to acknowledge that this latter possibility is still very much alive is particularly problematic given that, in some of your previous SLAW blogposts in support of allowing ABS, you
have highlighted the emergence of the
not - for - profit ownership model of ABS, in the form of Salvos Legal in Australia, as proof that ABS can contribute
to improving
access to justice.
Last but
not least, human beings see UPL prosecutions as self - serving and protectionist, and alternative legal services providers helping individuals that were otherwise
not getting help from lawyers and paralegals
would likely argue that
access to justice is being thwarted.
It also plausible that the
access to justice gap
would be even worse if ordinary people did
not have assurance of minimum competence, quality and conduct.
The LSUC ABS Working Group itself
has recognized [at para. 118 of its February report] that «it
would be wrong
to suggest that ABSs are a panacea» for
access to justice, but does
not yet seem inclined
to go further.
That
has not yet occurred in law around any facet of the
access to justice problem, as far as I can tell.
I just
have one problem with this article — saying that at law society law libraries the public are
not welcome — that is
not true — law society libraries
have embraced
access to justice initiatives that allow for members of the public
to come and use the resources on site.
This does
not, of course, provide complete
access to justice, but it provides some
access to justice, and additional arguments are also
to be made that limited legal work
has incidental effects that improve clients» overall legal capacity, extending the benefit received beyond the brief services provided.