Legal Service Provision in Northern Canada
Summary of Research in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and the Yukon

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Table of Contents

• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• 1. INTRODUCTION
  • 1.1 PURPOSE OF THE REPORT
  • 1.2 ISSUES FOR EXAMINATION
  • 1.3 FORMAT OF THE REPORT
• 2. METHODOLOGY
  • 2.1 QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGIES
  • 2.2 METHODOLOGICAL LIMITATIONS AND CHALLENGES
  • 2.3 ASSESSING UNMET NEED
• 3. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
  • 3.1 SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES
    • 3.1.1 Demographics
    • 3.1.2 Geography and access
    • 3.1.3 Alcohol and FAS/E
    • 3.1.4 Crime and policing
    • 3.1.5 Lack of services at the community level
  • 3.2 SYSTEMS FOR THE PROVISION OF LEGAL SERVICES
    • 3.2.1 Court structures
    • 3.2.2 Resources and methods for legal service provision
    • 3.2.3 Demand for legal services
    • 3.2.4 Limitations on legal service provision
• 4. IMPACT OF COURT STRUCTURE, GEOGRAPHY, AND CULTURE ON LEGAL SERVICES DEMAND, PATTERN, AND QUALITY
  • 4.1 IMPACT OF GEOGRAPHY
  • 4.2 IMPACT OF CULTURE
  • 4.3 UNMET NEED RESULTING FROM GEOGRAPHY AND CULTURE
• 5. CIRCUIT COURTS
  • 5.1 QUALITY OF SERVICE PROVISION
  • 5.2 DELAYS IN SERVICE PROVISION
  • 5.3 CONTINUITY OF COUNSEL
  • 5.4 UNMET NEED RESULTING FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT STRUCTURE
• 6. COURTWORKERS
  • 6.1 COURTWORKER SERVICE PROVISION
  • 6.2 CONSTRAINTS FACING COURTWORKERS
  • 6.3 CURRENT ROLE OF COURTWORKERS
  • 6.4 PRESSURES ON THE ROLE OF COURTWORKERS
  • 6.5 UNMET NEED FOR COURTWORKER SERVICES
• 7. JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURTS
  • 7.1 THE ROLE OF JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURTS
  • 7.2 LEGAL SERVICE PROVISION IN JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURTS
  • 7.3 UNMET NEED RESULTING FROM JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURTS
• 8. CIVIL LEGAL AID
  • 8.1 CONCERNS RELATING TO CIVIL LEGAL SERVICES PROVISION
    • 8.1.1 Shortage of private family and other civil lawyers
    • 8.1.2 Practical limitations on service provision
    • 8.1.3 Potential for escalation
    • 8.1.4 Shortage of alternatives to the legal system
    • 8.1.5 Special requirements of family law cases
  • 8.2 UNMET NEEDS IN FAMILY AND OTHER CIVIL LAW
• 9. ACTIVITIES PRIOR TO FIRST APPEARANCE
  • 9.1 METHOD OF SERVICE DELIVERY PRIOR TO FIRST APPEARANCE
  • 9.2 CONCERNS RELATING TO SERVICE DELIVERY PRIOR TO FIRST APPEARANCE
    
    • 9.2.1 Access to legal advice
    • 9.2.2 Service by telephone
  • 9.3 UNMET NEEDS PRIOR TO FIRST APPEARANCE
• 10. INTERPLAY BETWEEN CRIMINAL AND CIVIL ISSUES
• 11. PUBLIC LEGAL EDUCATION AND INFORMATION
  
  • 11.1 CURRENT METHODS OF PLEI DELIVERY
  • 11.2 UNMET NEED FOR PLEI
• 12. COST DRIVERS
  
  • 12.1 COMMON COST DRIVERS
  • 12.2 OTHER COST DRIVERS
• 13. FEDERAL AND TERRITORIAL LEGISLATION AND POLICIES
  
  • 13.1 FEDERAL AND TERRITORIAL LEGISLATION
  • 13.2 FEDERAL AND TERRITORIAL POLICIES
  • 13.3 RESOURCE ALLOCATION
• 14. PROPOSED SOLUTIONS
• 15. CONCLUSION

FIGURES AND TABLES

• Table 2.1 - Summary of Research Methodologies
• Table 3.1 - Legal Service Organization Mandates
• Table 3.2 - Resources for Legal Service Provision
• Table 3.3 - Approved Applications for Legal Aid (1999-2002 inclusive)
• Table 3.4 - Applications Denied (Percentage of Received 2000-01) and Primary Reasons for Denial
• Table 4.1 - Unmet Need Resulting from Geography and Culture
• Table 5.1 - Unmet Need Resulting from the Circuit Court Structure
• Table 6.1 - Differences in Courtworker Service Provision
• Table 6.2 - Unmet Need for Courtworker Services
• Table 7.1 - Unmet Need Resulting from Justice of the Peace Courts
• Table 8.1 - Unmet Need in Civil and Family Law
• Table 9.1 - Unmet Need Prior to First Appearance
• Table 11.1 - Current Methods of PLEI Delivery
• Table 11.2 - Unmet Need for PLEI
• Table 14.1 - Proposed Solutions to Areas of Unmet Need in the Northwest Territories
• Table 14.2 - Proposed Solutions to Areas of Unmet Need in Nunavut
• Table 14.3 - Proposed Solutions to Areas of Unmet Need in the Yukon

ACRONYMS

CW

Courtworker

CYFN

Council of Yukon First Nations

DVTO

Domestic Violence Treatment Option (Yukon)

FVPA

Family Violence Protection Act (Yukon)

GNWT

Government of the Northwest Territories

JP

Justice of the Peace

JP court

Justice of the Peace court

LSB

Legal Services Board (N.W.T.)

MVA

Motor Vehicle Act (Yukon)

NCJ

Nunavut Court of Justice

NLSB

Nunavut Legal Services Board

N.W.T.

Northwest Territories

PLEI

Public Legal Education and Information

RCMP

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

YCJA

Youth Criminal Justice Act

YLSS

Yukon Legal Services Society

YPLEA

Yukon Public Legal Education Association