Access to Justice

  • July 23, 2026

    N.W.T. brings more laws into force to protect victims of family violence

    The Northwest Territories has new legislation to better support victims of family violence, including laws that formally recognize stalking, give people greater ability to protect themselves and allow victims to sue perpetrators.

  • July 23, 2026

    Family law: Looking out for yourself or the client

    Eleanor practised family law. She was good at the technical stuff, but not so good at dealing with clients. Especially vulnerable clients, such as people getting divorced.

  • July 23, 2026

    Illusion of AI neutrality: Predictive policing, algorithmic accountability and constitutional rights

    The accelerating development of artificial intelligence, both domestically and internationally, provides important lessons for the responsible implementation of predictive policing systems within criminal justice frameworks. This is particularly evident in the governance challenges associated with algorithmic policing technologies, including regulatory lag, surveillance arbitration, symbolic compliance and weak oversight.

  • July 23, 2026

    Family law: Separation preparedness for the public

    Is it time to acknowledge and address the gap in practical education, practical readiness and practical understanding for the public in family law matters?

  • July 22, 2026

    Mentorship as resistance: Building Black legal leaders from the ground up

    Let’s be honest: the legal profession was never built with Black people in mind. While progress has been made, too many Black students still walk into law schools, courtrooms and boardrooms wondering if they truly belong. That’s exactly why mentorship is more than guidance; it's resistance.

  • July 22, 2026

    Intermediary dilemma: The structural architecture behind public service delivery impasses

    Public service delivery strikes are routinely framed in popular discourse as localized, binary disputes between individual employers and their workforces. Yet, when these disruptions hit independent delivery networks, the stalled bargaining tables reflect a much broader systemic crisis.

  • July 21, 2026

    View from prison: Working with a lawyer

    When facing a criminal charge, the person representing us as a lawyer is fundamentally important. For most of us, our lawyer is our guide to the arcane processes and rules of the justice system. She or he tells us what our choices are and has a huge influence on what we decide to do — which in most cases is to plead guilty. More than that, lawyers are often a main source of emotional support for those facing the overwhelming power of the criminal justice system and the huge anxiety that comes with the destruction of our life that being arrested represents.

  • July 21, 2026

    How 249 Canadian courts and tribunals are addressing AI use

    By now, the problem is well-known. In March, we reported in Law360 Canada that Canadian courts and tribunals had flagged fictitious case citations in more than 111 decisions, a number that has reached 186 as of early July. In a June article, we showed that the consequences for the people who file them are inconsistent. This article asks the third and final question: what are the courts and tribunals themselves doing about it?

  • July 21, 2026

    How are our judges feeling about work?

    Canada’s federal judiciary is an important population whose day-to-day burdens have rarely been studied despite their institutional importance. For all the gravity of their role, we are only now uncovering how Canada’s judges are managing their mental health.

  • July 17, 2026

    Feds to spend $607M in next phase of plan to end gender-based violence

    Canada’s government is spending more than half a billion dollars to support the next phase of its decade-long push to eradicate gender-based violence. On July 16, it was announced that Ottawa will be investing $607.4 million into its ongoing National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence — a 10-year initiative where participating provinces and territories sign on to the plan and, in exchange, receive funding to help implement the plan in their respective jurisdictions.