Best Practices

1. Best Practices • Since the burden of dealing with unrepresented litigants falls most heavily on trial courts. • Courts of appeal should be careful not to make this task even more difficult by being overly critical of attempts to assist the litigants and to move the process along. • There are 3 categories to explain the various forms of judicial assistance.: 1. REQUIRED JUDICIAL ASSISTANCE • Canadian judges (or hearing officers in administrative tribunals) are required to instruct the SRL about the basic format and rules of procedure he or she will need to follow. • Judges must take into consideration the fact that the litigant is unrepresented and take steps to prevent any undue prejudice. 2. PERMISSIBLE FORMS OF JUDICIAL ASSISTANCE • Interventions to clarify testimony, conduct witness questioning, prompt an SRL to provide testimony on a specific point or subject, or to elicit specific (or illustrative) evidence during cross examination is also permissible. 3. IMPERMISSIBLE FORMS OF JUDICIAL ASSISTANCE • Any assistance that amounts to advocacy for the SRL, or which results in overriding the rights of the represented party is impermissible.

2. FINDING LEGAL HELP • Legal Line • Law Society of Upper Canada — Lawyer Referral Service • Legal Aid Ontario • Law Help Ontario • Community Legal Clinics • University Student Legal Clinics • METRAC: Metro Action Committee on Public Violence Against Women and Children • Family Transition Place • Ontario Human Rights Commission • Ombudsman Ontario • Other Libraries (local library or University Library) • Self-Counsel Press Publications