Written by Erin Wilcott In early 2021, the Manitoba Law Foundation (MLF) released a literature review titled “Literature Review on Access to Justice for Family and Civil Matters”. It was prepared to provide a broad background on family and civil access to justice issues in Canada. It also created an inventory of surveys and access […]
Written by Eric Epp The University of Manitoba Community Law Centre (UMCLC) provides clinical learning opportunity for Robson Hall law students. The students primarily handle less complex criminal files and in some instances, provide assistance with civil and administrative law files.[1] For most of its near 50 year existence, the UMCLC was located in the
Relocation of the UofM Community Law Centre Promotes More Accessible Legal Service Read More »
Written by Noah Lesiuk Following the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) in Guerin v The Queen, precedent has solidified that limitation periods apply to Indigenous claims against the Crown.[1] In fact, the operation of such a doctrine in the Indigenous context is not only immortalized in the jurisprudence, but expressly conveyed through statutory authority.
Written by Eric Epp Access to justice can be used to describe not just financial barriers to the justice system, but also social and psychological barriers. For those who identify as transgender, a particularly pervasive barrier comes in the form of being misgendered in court. Since 2021, all levels of Manitoba courts have issued Practice
Written by Eric Epp Human rights claims in Manitoba have typically taken between three and four years to investigate, followed by another two years for adjudication.[1] In terms of accessing timely resolutions, this is far too long to wait for many matters. In response to a number of recommendations addressing this issue in Alan Fineblit’s 2018
Human Rights Code Amendment Act to Speed Up Processing Human Rights Complaints Read More »
Written by Eric Epp As a bilingual nation, a baseline of accessible justice should include the right to conduct a court proceeding in either official language. In an effort to meet this baseline, the Canadian government recently announced that it would be providing $1.6 million in funding for the Manitoba government to implement the amendments
Written by Eric Epp In the recent Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench decision Flette et. Al. v. Manitoba (Flette) it was ruled that the government of Manitoba misappropriated funds meant for First Nation and Metis children in care. Within this decision, the bounds of the 2016 Supreme Court of Canada case Trial Lawyers Assn. of British Columbia v.
Flette et al. v Manitoba: Access to Justice and Section 96 in Manitoba Read More »
Written by Eric Epp The number of self-representing litigants (SRLs) in Canada is rising.[1] Although self-help or “low bono” opportunities exist for SRL’s to be assisted through the court process, SRLs naturally encounter much more difficulty navigating the court system. According to a recent American study, which was done in the context of family cases, SRLs
Written by Calvin Ediger Recently the Canadian Bar Association released a report on the impact of COVID-19 on the legal profession in Canada. In general, the report found that the effect of the pandemic was to accelerate the adoption of technology in the legal field, while not necessarily considering the risks and drawbacks that came
News: Canadian Bar Association Report on the Impact of COVID-19 Read More »
Written by Calvin Ediger On March 25th the Manitoba government announced that it will be providing $2 million in funding for a youth healing lodge in Thompson. The lodge will be operated by the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) Inc. The MKO is a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of the citizens of 26 First Nations
News: Province Announces Funding for New Youth Healing Lodge in Thompson Read More »
