Precarious Justice

Download or read book The Justice Crisis written by Trevor C.W. Farrow and published by UBC Press. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unfulfilled legal needs are at a tipping point in many parts of the Canadian justice system and around the world. The Justice Crisis assesses what is and isn’t working in an effort to improve a fundamental right of democratic citizenship: access to civil and family justice. Meaningful access is often a question of providing pathways to resolving everyday legal issues. The availability of justice services that aren’t only tied to the courts and lawyers – such as public education on the law, alternative dispute settlement, and paralegal support – is therefore an important concern. Contributors to this wide-ranging overview of new empirical research address several key justice issues: the extent and cost of unmet legal needs; the role of public funding; connections between legal and social exclusion among vulnerable populations; the value of new legal pathways; the provision of justice services beyond the courts and lawyers; and the need for a culture change within the justice system. Their findings can inform initiatives to improve access to justice within the Canadian system and beyond.