Study of the Legal Services Provided to Penitentiary Inmates by Legal Aid Plans and Clinics in Canada
Appendix C: Legal Aid Plan Coverage by Province (cont'd)
| British Columbia | Alberta | Saskatchewan | Manitoba | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Method of service delivery to general public | Structure and services: Predominantly judicare, with some clinics. Director of Services, Area Director (51 areas in province). Clinics funded through legal aid but independent, with own boards - include lawyers and paralegals. Some experimentation with clinic services in other areas (immigration, family). Application taken, financial eligibility testing included in assessment of eligibility for aid, case details assessed, decision re: granting aid. Services: Judicare certificates, clinics, duty counsel, advice lawyers, student legal aid services. Doing pilot projects re. expanded duty counsel in family law, staff offices etc. Duty counsel in every criminal court - advise re: rights, bail hearings, guilty pleas, sentencing on guilty pleas. Duty counsel - two in family courts on motions days - allow representation both sides. Duty counsel accompany circuit courts in remote areas and attend immigration hearings in Toronto and Mississauga. 24-hour telephone advice service for adults/kids in custody. Legal Advice Lawyer: Summary advice, assistance and review of legal documents, 83 communities 1-3 times per week, 2-3 hours/session. Legal clinics: 70 clinics plus specialized clinics. Six student clinics. For example, lawyers and students at the Correctional Law Project offer both advice and representation. Policies and Procedures: Guidelines for eligibility set by AG. Eligibility: Application, assess financial eligibility, assess case using guidelines. Local committees (mainly lawyers on committee) hear appeals of decisions; appeals of appeal cases go to provincial level. Coverage of appeals in criminal and civil depends on reasonableness of proceeding and probability of success. Usually give certificate to respond to Crown appeals. Appeals by person only if merit. Immigration coverage priority to refugee claims. Family law priority to cases where safety of child/spouse at risk and where threatened child removed from parent. Custody, access, support, property, child protection, restraining orders, wife assault may be covered. Civil: Civil sexual assault, mental health, income maintenance, landlord-tenant, worker's compensation, unemployment appeals, prison appeals in sexual assault cases may be covered. Eligibility: Needs test including income and assets, person and spouse (three years living together continuously, any with kids living together). Flexibility in test. Includes liabilities, extenuating circumstances, seriousness of case. Repayment of all or part of the costs is possible |
Structure and services: Mixed judicare-staff service provision - if client wants private lawyer, can. If doesn't have one, usually staff lawyer appointed. Staff offices use private bar in some cases to expand expertise for specific cases or if too busy, conflict of interest. Structure: Legal Aid Commission, 11 regional and two local centres. Each centre has its own Board of Directors appointed by Commission. Regional centres establish local legal aid offices within catchment area. Receive applications at local offices. Services provided by staff lawyers of offices in 128 offices in 106 cities in Québec. Non-lawyers aren't usually used to provide services. Staff lawyers provide duty counsel services in criminal, civil, and administrative courts. Policies and procedures: Can appeal decision to Review Committee (members not Commission or centre employees) re: granting legal aid within 15 days of decision. Eligibility: Always granted, if financially eligible, for family, youth protection, young offenders, indictable offences, applications involving automobile insurance, workers compensation, unemployment insurance, income security. Other civil and summary conviction cases at discretion of legal aid (likelihood of imprisonment, loss of livelihood, interests of justice to provide). Appeals by crown covered. Appeals by defendant at discretion of legal aid. Coverage: total or partial with repayment. |
Structure and services: Mixed model of service delivery. . Legal Aid New Brunswick provincial office and eight regional offices, legal aid panels and duty counsel. Domestic legal aid run through Legal Aid New Brunswick / Department of Justice using staff lawyers-court social worker is first contact, screened to mediation, legal services or external service. Family solicitors under contract with Legal Aid New Brunswick engaged to provide services. Criminal coverage where jail term likely, loss of livelihood or other extenuating circumstances, provincial offences can be included, municipal by-laws are not. Duty counsel can be used. Provided in all criminal courts. Policies and procedures: Appeals eligibility requires lawyer's opinion letter re: likelihood of success and copy of order being appealed, area staff consider it reasonable to appeal, application submitted to area committee, area committee approves. Family law: Only coverage is permanent guardianship and variation applications for payers found unable to pay. Department of Justice provides a staff lawyer covering victims of spousal abuse, mediation services, and legal services for beneficiaries of support. No financial means tests for these services. Financial eligibility: means test administered, flexibility in test, assets, liabilities, income, expenses, spouse, dependents. Spouse is not defined but generally taken to mean relationship of significant duration with couple still cohabiting. Also consider merit of case, complexity of case, total amount of legal aid the applicant has received from legal aid, urgency of situation, whether reasonable person who has similar case would pay for lawyer for it. Repayment of all or part of the costs is possible |
Structure and services : Staff model with private bar hired on certificate to provide services in situations of conflict or criminal counsel choice (only in cases where possible sentence is mandatory life imprisonment); administrative office and 13 regional offices, three sub-offices. Duty counsel: A formal Cells Duty Counsel Program is offered to all persons in custody at the criminal intake court in Halifax and Dartmouth only. After-hours duty counsel for detained people. Partial funding to Dalhousie Legal Aid Service. Policies and procedures: Coverage: Criminal and civil, criminal takes priority, indictable covered, summary where likelihood imprisonment, appeals by Crown and accused. No civil matters expressly excluded from legal aid. Family: divorce, spousal assault, custody, access, support, child protection, marital property. Priorities: indictable, summary where imprisonment; domestic violence, custody, child welfare, maintenance; situations where livelihood may be problem. Eligibility: Financial needs test: income, expenses, debt, assets; take into account spouse: person living with the applicant and contributing financially to home. Repayment of all or part of the costs is possible |
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