Access to Justice Blog

By Joy Brailean, Student at the Faculty of Law, University of Alberta In Hryniak v Mauldin, the Supreme Court of Canada urged courts to optimize procedural mechanisms for improved access to justice. While fair adjudication is paramount to Canada’s civil justice system, excessive expense and delay can preclude equitable dispute resolution altogether. Balance must be […]

By Jessa Meyer*, Student at the Faculty of Law, University of Alberta A vexatious litigant order (“VLO”) is used to prevent a vexatious litigant from commencing or continuing proceedings in court, unless the litigant obtains permission from the Court to do so. In 2020, the cases of Jonsson v Lymer, Makis v Alberta Health Services,

By Mackenzie Coleman, Student at the Faculty of Law, University of Alberta Within the Canadian legal system, transgender people have faced a wide range of pressing and well-documented legal needs and yet, most of these needs remain unmet. Along with this, transgender people have historically, and continually, faced systematic access to justice barriers and regularly

By Rachel Poznikoff, Student at the Faculty of Law, University of Alberta With Covid-19 lockdowns came a necessary shift towards digital methods of pre-trial and trial procedures across Canada, and even as the world has resumed to a new normal, it does not appear as though these digital options are going anywhere. In Alberta, virtual

By Cassandra Paterson, Student at the Faculty of Law, University of Alberta In three recent decisions, the Alberta Court of Appeal (the “ABCA”) paid close attention to the defendants’ behaviour when deciding whether to dismiss a claim or action for delay under Rules 4.31 and 4.33 of the Alberta Rules of Court. Rules 4.31 and