Shaping New Directions: Linguistic and Rural Access to Justice

1. Shaping New Directions: Linguistic and Rural Access to Justice What we heard from you over the past two days George Thomson and Karen Cohl Oct 7, 2008

2. General comments • Overall positive reaction to proposed approaches for our report to the Law Foundation • Findings resonate: broadening, making more widely available the innovation that already exists • Helpful to set out the vision and what could work in a positive way • Like the focus on partnerships, collaboration and building community capacity. Great examples to build on. • Good not to create an entity or over-rely on technology • Common sense

3. Resources • Will there be enough money to make it work? • Lack of sustainable funding for proven projects

4. Potential Project #1:Community Capacity • Good to build legal literacy • Use a variety of methods including on-line learning • Content: what front-line workers use every day • Who needs legal information? • lawyers • intermediaries* • individuals • Issues: • Information vs advice • Concern about “paralegal chill” • Information vs self-help

5. …community capacity • Focus on agencies where people with problems go • Community health centres vs public libraries • Don’t restrict to direct service agencies • Organizations should provide peer mentors for vulnerable persons

6. Potential Project #2:Regional Planning Model • “Regional planning is the way to go” • Clinics collaborate on a smaller scale. Larger scale collaboration would yield more. • Partnerships can map out what exists and get things done. • Municipalities are part of the solution • Consider two planning exercises within the selected region (one for rural; one for urban/linguistic) leading to one plan

7. Potential Project #3:Legal Interpretation Network • Ensure emphasis on cultural responsiveness of interpreters

8. Supply of legal services • Create articling positions • Create articling position in specialty clinic that rotates through different communities • Also offer paralegal placements • Build capacity of specialty clinics • Specialty clinics on language and culture can’t serve everyone. They need provincial mandate to share expertise and build the capacity of others. • Consider poverty law centre: self-help with support and referral when necessary. Protect economic rights. • Work on ways to increase supply • Mobile service for legal education as opposed to services (privacy)

9. Share technology • Videoconferencing • Which videoconference network(s)? • Individuals and community workers may not feel comfortable going to courts, police, or corrections for videoconference. Trainers or experts could be at those locations. • Evening or weekend access could be a problem • Coordinate development of interactive websites and hotlines • e.g. CLEO-Net; LAO website/hotline; Justice Ontario; FLEW website; settlement.org

10. …technology • Post-referral support by intermediaries? • Use technology in rural organizations to link the client to legal service provider • Would include printing and scanning documents, telephone, videoconferencing, internet

11. Clearinghouse • Great to have clearinghouse to share what we know and easily find the information

12. Reaching isolated communities • Innovative projects and techniques described over last two days reinforce the importance of maintaining support for them.

13. Conclusion • Thank you!