CBA launches suit in BC to establish right to legal aid in civil cases.

VANCOUVER -- "We believe that the time has come to establish a constitutional right to civil legal aid in this country," says Canadian Bar Association President Susan McGrath. "Without legal aid, access to justice is meaningless, as many people cannot take advantage of their legal rights."

The Canadian Bar Association has chosen British Columbia to launch a test case to establish a constitutional right to civil legal aid in British Columbia because it has instituted the most drastic cuts in assistance to low income persons. It no longer funds legal assistance for persons appealing welfare decisions at administrative tribunals.

"The CBA has opted to pursue the litigation route out of a sense of profound frustration with cuts to legal aid that have resulted in a vacuum in access to justice for the poor in this province," says CBA'S McGrath. "While the courts are frequently asked to consider the fight to legal counsel in individual cases, we believe this is the first systemic challenge to a legal aid program in Canada," adds Ms. McGrath.

The CBA plans to pursue this as a systemic challenge to a legal aid program in Canada, relying on novel legal arguments that shift away from the current narrow focus in existing legal aid jurisprudence on the right to a fair hearing, or an injustice in one individual's case, toward a broader right to equal access to justice for poor people. The Association will bring for: ward evidence regarding the deficiencies of the legal aid program in B.C. that demonstrates its unconstitutionality.

The CBA legal team is headed by Vancouver lawyers J.J. Camp, Sharon Matthews, and Gwen Brodsky, Ph.D., also of Vancouver.

The CBA has called for improvements to legal aid for the past decade, specifically for a federal transfer earmarked for civil legal aid and linked to the amount actually spent by a province or territory, and minimum national standards for services. This would replace the current system, where-by the federal government makes a global transfer for several social services to the provinces and territories, which individually decide how much, if anything, is spent on civil legal aid. The B.C. government pushed the system to the limit in 2002 when it virtually eviscerated civil legal aid in the province.

"This test case is vitally important to poor people. It would be impossible for a poor person to bring this case on his or her own. We are extremely pleased that the CBA is taking this case forward," says Paulette Halupa, President of the National Anti-Poverty Organization (NAPO).