What I detected at the Policy Day was a general feeling among Ontario lawyers (certainly in the break out group I attended), that any rule change that results in an increase in the number of
settlements enhances access to justice and enhances the reputation of the administration of justice.
I suspect that the real heavy lifting in
enhancing access to justice is a matter of procedural reform — specialized decision - making bodies with extremely simplified procedural rules for specific civil law issues (something that actually already exists in certain areas such as Landlord / Tenant, but could be further improved upon), wider permissions for over-the-counter motions, fewer unnecessary court appearances, fewer procedurally - mandated appearances (e.g., going from a Case Conference
to a
Settlement Conference
to a Trial Management Conference, and possibly further, before you can get
to a family law trial), and so on.