Development of An Access to Justice Index for Federal Administrative Bodies

4.0 Conclusion

The developmental work for the Canadian Access to Justice Index for Federal Administrative Bodies began in the spring of 2014. It was developed through a collaborative process that encouraged input and discussion amongst federal administrative bodies, as well as legal academics and non-governmental organizations. Significant research guided these discussions and those with expertise and interest in measuring access to justice contributed to the process and to the overall product.

Professor Sossin noted in his review of this report that, “It is often said that ‘what we count is what counts.’”Footnote 67 If the measurement of access to justice is limited to just a few key indicators, perhaps the ones that are easy to articulate and easy to collect, then access to justice is limited. The Index reflects perspectives on what will contribute to an accessible administrative body. Its strength lies in its holistic approach to Access to Justice. In effect, a whole range of “qualitative and quantitative measures” are required to properly measure and to accurately explain access to justice for administrative bodies.

Professor Sossin also commented that, “A key value of the Index is using it as a comparative resources”.Footnote 68 While the Index was designed to be used by all federal, and indeed, provincial/territorial and other administrative bodies, regardless of mandate, lower scores for some administrative bodies may be the result of their enabling legislation, rather than practices that could be addressed without the need for law reform. Specific reports were prepared for the CHRC and the Competition Tribunal so that the specific context of their mandate and work could be explored without the immediate comparison between the two bodies. It is hoped that more administrative bodies will start using the Index and its comparative value can be further explored.

The Index can contribute to dialogue about the scope of accessibility to administrative bodies, what responsibilities they ought to assume given their respective mandates and how they can discharge those responsibilities. By establishing baseline scores in each of the four categories and a composite score for each participating administrative body, there is the potential to return to the Questionnaire in several years to assess progress. Where there has not been progress, the reasons for this can also be explained. The intent to return and assess progress will help to keep the access to justice discussion in the foreground.

In addition to contributing to dialogue, the Index can be used to support budget priorities, as well as foster new partnerships with other departments, governments and other public sector entities or NGOs, such as mental health service providers, translation services or new standards. One idea that has been proposed has been to explore the use of the Index with all the federal-provincial-territorial administrative bodies from one area. With today’s focus on evidence and performance measurement for governments,Footnote 69 the Index has many possible applications.

The results from this pilot of the Index show that the participating federal administrative bodies excel in some areas of access to justice, but there is room for improvement in others. These are areas that can be examined further. At the same time, the questions asked and their respective weights will be reviewed. Further work may be considered to validate questions that demand the parties’/users’ perspectives. Finding “more effective ways to hear from users directly ultimately needs to play a role in the formulation of the Index if it is to serve its purpose of allowing participating tribunals to gain the insights that will enable it to improve its accessibility over time.”Footnote 70