CFCJ Newsletter

“Across a diversity of justice programs, services and mechanisms around the world, spending on justice results in significant economic and other benefits that generally exceed the value of the investment.” That is the main finding from a major new report prepared by the CFCJ’s Lisa Moore and Professor Trevor Farrow. In most cases, the rate of return on investment in justice services and programs was found to be between CAD $9 and $16 for every CAD $1 that is spent. The report examines a range of justice delivery mechanisms and initiatives in Canada, the U.S., South Africa, England and Wales, Australia and Bangladesh. Civil legal aid, community-based justice services, pro bono services and legal empowerment initiatives are just some of the justice mechanisms explored in terms of their return on investment and social return on investment potential. The “Investing in Justice” report was commissioned by the Task Force on Justice and is part of an international collection of background papers in support of UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.3 - equal justice for all. Investing in Justice: A Literature Review in Support of the Case for Improved Access is published on the CFCJ website here: https://cfcj-fcjc.org/wp-content/uploads/Investing-in-Justice-A-Literature-Review-in-Support-of-the-Case-for-Improved-Access-by-Lisa-Moore-and-Trevor-C-W-Farrow.pdf.

A significant number of studies worldwide reveal that spending on justice results in a high rate of return and also produces a range of other economic and social benefits. The “Return on Investment in Civil Justice Services and Programs – Selected Annotated Bibliography of Existing Research”, prepared by CFCJ’s Lisa Moore and CFCJ research assistant and Osgoode Hall Law School student Megan Phyper aims to provide a representative sampling of current research and assessments on the return on investment generated from investing in civil justice services.  Return on Investment in Civil Justice Services and Programs – Selected Annotated Bibliography of Existing Research is published on the CFCJ website: https://cfcj-fcjc.org/return-on-investment-in-civil-justice-services-and-programs-selected-annotated-bibliography-of-existing-research-lisa-moore-and-megan-phyper/.

The CFCJ’s newest infographic is based on the Investing in Justice report and offers a snapshot of the return on investment in access to justice in Canada and other countries. There are numerous benefits that result from spending to facilitate access to justice and these benefits generally significantly outweigh the costs of investments. Learn more in the new CFCJ infographic, available on the CFCJ website here: https://cfcj-fcjc.org/wp-content/uploads/Return-on-Investment-Access-to-Justice-Infographic.pdf.

The Global Access to Justice Project is an international network of researchers and academics working to map the progress that has been made in access to justice around the world over the past 5 decades. In a new A2J blog published on the CFCJ website here: https://cfcj-fcjc.org/a2jblog/the-global-access-to-justice-project/, Dr. Ab Currie discusses the current momentum around access to justice, the importance of this project and the contribution that this project will make to better understanding and addressing unmet legal needs globally. The blog also provides an overview of several milestone moments in the global access to justice movement to date.  A final Global Access to Justice Project report will be published and will include summary volumes containing individual country reports. The chapter on Canada is being written by Melina Buckley, a CFCJ Board Member and Chair of the Canadian Bar Association Legal Aid Committee, Ab Currie, CFCJ Senior Research Fellow and Trevor Farrow, Professor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School and CFCJ Board Chair.

The First Interim Report for the WellCoMs Mobile Van Project provides an assessment of preliminary data for the WellCoMs project operating in rural Wellington County. The WellComs Mobile Van is a pilot project of the Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County aimed at addressing unmet legal needs among the population of rural Wellington. The van makes one-day visits to communities in rural Wellington between May and October, parking in a conspicuous location and advertising their visit through a number of channels in advance, where passers-by and intentional visitors receive assistance to the extent possible with their justiciable problems. This first interim report discusses the first five weeks of the project. Both the first interim report, (published on the CFCJ website here) and the second interim report (discussed below) were authored by CFCJ Senior Research Fellow, Ab Currie, Ph.D.

The Second Interim Report of the WellCoMs Mobile Van Project, prepared by CFCJ Senior Research Fellow, Dr. Ab Currie, examines data gathered on the pilot project up to the end of the fourth month of the six-month initiative. The project, which runs from May to October in rural areas of Wellington County, has thus far been deemed successful in identifying unmet legal needs of people in the designated project area. The van regularly visits 12 communities in rural Wellington. Between May and August 2019, 75% of persons visiting the van were found to have a legal problem and received some assistance. As further evidence of the success of these outreach efforts, 65.5% of people said they learned about the van simply by passing by the area where the van was parked.
 

Read “Building Community Connections, the Second Interim Report of the WellCoMs Mobile Van Project” by Ab Currie to learn more about the positive outcomes of this mobile legal services delivery method to date: https://cfcj-fcjc.org/wp-content/uploads/Building-Community-Connections-Second-Interim-Report-of-the-WellCoMs-Mobile-Van-Project-by-Ab-Currie.pdf.

The WellCoMs Van Project infographic provides an at-a-glance view of the WellCoMs pilot project.  The WellCoMs van is a project of the Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County and is funded by the Law Foundation of Ontario and Legal Aid Ontario. The project aims to provide as much practical help as possible to underserved communities in rural Wellington County. So far, they are making an impact! Check out some of the highlights of the project in their infographic: https://cfcj-fcjc.org/wp-content/uploads/The-WellComS-Mobile-Legal-Services-Infographic.pdf.

Serving the legal needs of people living in rural and remote communities is a well-known access to justice challenge. The work being done by the WellCoMs van– created and run by the Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County—offers a potential model for addressing this access to justice barrier.

In a new blog by CFCJ Senior Research Fellow, Ab Currie, entitled “Going Out to Where People Live or Spend Time to Address Unmet Legal Need”, he discusses recent data curated by the Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County on the WellCoMs van’s outreach efforts in 12 communities in the region. During the first five weeks of the project, the van attracted almost 200 visitors, of whom more than half identified a legal problem for which they wanted help. For a summary discussion of the WellComs Mobile Van Project and to learn about some of the main findings from the project (discussed in detail in the First and Second Interim Reports), read Ab Currie’s blog published on the CFCJ website here: https://cfcj-fcjc.org/a2jblog/going-out-to-where-people-live-or-spend-time-to-address-unmet-legal-need/.

In her latest blog, CFCJ Research Assistant, Megan Phyper discusses the over-representation of self-represented litigants in Canada’s family courts. Due to the nature of family law problems and the fact that they often involve important relationships, this particular legal problem type benefits from expedient, mutually beneficial resolution. What models and reforms offer promise for more cost-efficient, timely and concordant dispute resolution in family law matters? Megan discusses further in her blog, published on the CFCJ website here: https://cfcj-fcjc.org/a2jblog/self-represented-litigants-self-help-and-family-justice-reform/.

As always, we are delighted to share with you news about recent access to justice meetings, conferences and other forums where we present and discuss our research and engage policy thinkers, justice stakeholders and the public to help advance access to justice. Check out our recent “Stories from the Road” below.

As part of Ontario’s efforts to modernize the legal aid system and make the justice system easier to navigate, Legal Aid Ontario hosted a family law roundtable in August. CFCJ’s Trevor Farrow was a part of the important discussions that took place around ways to better facilitate legal aid services delivery for more low-income Ontarians.

This year, the annual CALE conference was planned for October 24-26 in Windsor, Ontario. CFCJ’s Trevor Farrow gave a presentation on October 25th on “Justice Research: Next Steps”. Professor Farrow noted that one of the problems with access to justice is that we are not taking justice seriously. The presentation also included an overview of key findings from some of the CFCJ’s recently completed, newly published and ongoing research.