Law Times

Page 2 January 20, 2014 Law Times • NEWS Ontario praised for legal clinics, role of paralegals Continued from page 2 report prepared for a 2011 conference of the International Legal Aid Group, a global network of legal aid specialists. One of the problems with the Belgian regime is its lack of co-ordination between legal aid providers, the report notes. That's an area Ontario can be proud of, Paterson says, noting the real strength of the legal aid structure in this province is its organized clinic system. Osgoode Hall Law School professor Frederick Zemans was the founding director of the first community-based legal clinic in Ontario, Parkdale Community Legal Services. To him, the clinic system — and particularly the specialty clinics advocating for aboriginals, the elderly, and people with mental illness or disabilities — "is one of our really special features." "There are now over 70 clinics across Ontario," says Zemans. "It's important to underline that many of the clinics, including Parkdale, they are both serving the community and [are] community run," he adds. The role of paralegals in the legal aid structure in Ontario is another important aspect, according to Zemans. Although Canada, like Aus- their systems tend to be underfunded. "Therefore, the spending per capita is on the low side. In other words, the scheme looks great, but there isn't the resources to provide nearly as much assistance as needed." In terms of per-capita spending on legal aid, Northern Ireland tops all countries, accord- At an early stage, the government took the decision that they would create a reduced civil legal aid system intended only to meet international human rights legal obligations. tralia, has a legal aid structure that includes "good elements" — such as the delivery of services through both private and public sector lawyers — its system falls short due to lack of funding, says Paterson. "There are good elements in Canada and some parts of Australia were we to ignore that ing to Paterson. The country's projected budget for legal aid for 2013-14 was around 116 million pounds (about $208 million) for a population of 1.8 million people. Interestingly, in Hong Kong, "there is no pre-determined funding cap and supplementary funding can be sought in the event expenses exceed the original estimate," according to a legal aid report on that jurisdiction available on the International Legal Aid Group's web site. "Subject to the monitoring and approval of the [legal aid department] on the ground of reasonableness, there is no limit on the expenditure for any particular legally aided case which may involve solicitors, barristers, mediators, and both local and overseas experts," the report notes. According to the report on Australia, funding for legal assistance services over the next four years will be $1.4 billion. Comparatively, Canada spent $776 million on legal aid in 2012. Ontario accounted for $371 million of that amount. But when it comes to eligibility criteria for legal aid, Ontario is on the low end. In a province with a median family income of $73,290, the cutoff for a legal CANADIAN LAW LIST 2014 YOUR INSTANT CONNECTION TO CANADA'S LEGAL NETWORK Inside you will find: of more than 78,000 barristers, solicitors and Quebec notaries, corporate counsel, law firms and judges in Canada; for the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Canada, Federal Cabinet Ministers, departments, boards, commissions and Crown corporations; related to each province for the Courts of Appeal, Supreme Courts, County and District Courts, Provincial Courts, law societies, law schools, Legal Aid, and other law-related offices of importance. MORE THAN A PHONE BOOK Hardbound Published February each year On subscription $159 L88804-627 One-time purchase $176 L88804-627 Multiple copy discounts available Prices subject to change without notice, to applicable taxes and shipping & handling. Visit carswell.com or call 1.800.387.5164 for a 30-day no-risk evaluation Untitled-7 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 13-12-19 3:17 PM aid certificate is $10,800 for a single-person household and $18,684 for a family of two people. In Nunavut, anyone making less than $50,000 annually may qualify for legal aid. Another benchmark used to assess the quality of a legal aid system is the scope of services covered by the scheme. Most legal aid systems provide at least some criminal law services while putting a lower priority on civil and family law cases. According to Paterson, England and Wales have mostly eliminated family law from legal aid coverage. While LAO provides some family law services, those who don't qualify for legal aid and can't afford to hire legal counsel make up about 70 per cent of family law litigants. When it comes to criminal matters, the United Nations Guidelines and Principles on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems adopted in December 2012 suggest "people charged with a criminal offence punishable by a term of imprisonment or the death penalty are entitled to legal aid at all stages of the criminal justice process." The guidelines also encourage states to provide legal aid regardless of the person's means if the case is particularly urgent or complex or if the potential penalty is very severe. But it's unlikely there's any country with a legal aid system fully aligned with the UN principles, says Paterson. "The world's economy is not in great shape and you cannot keep on spending public money in every area," he says. In Britain, barristers say the cuts will drive lawyers away from legal aid. According to a recent Reuters report, senior barrister Mukul Chawla said that if the government cuts continue, "the guilty will go unpunished and the innocent will be wrongly convicted." The recent British funding cuts follow a 10-per-cent reduction in legal aid fees for both civil and criminal cases in April 2012. An England and Wales national report prepared for the 2013 conference of the International Legal Aid Group lamented an impending "austerity justice." "At an early stage, the government took the decision that they would create a reduced civil legal aid system intended only to meet international human rights legal obligations. "For this reason, the scope of criminal legal aid remained intact with the bulk of the cuts falling on areas of law in the civil legal aid scheme which are less likely to directly engage human rights principles," the report notes. "Overall the assessment of the U.K. government's changes to legal aid can be nothing more than bleak." LT

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