Chief Justice’s Blog
A2JBC takes first steps in leadership to transform the Family Justice System
In December, I blogged about aspiring to be a butterfly rather than a cautious caterpillar in choosing to transform the family justice system. I hinted at a significant strategy on its way, aimed at achieving that transformation. I am proud to announce that a family justice leadership strategy has been proposed to Access to Justice…
Read MoreAccess to Justice Week is Approaching!
Mark your calendars – the week of January 24th to January 31st, 2021 has been proclaimed Access to Justice Week in the province of British Columbia! Access to Justice Week is an opportunity to engage with the access to justice movement taking place in British Columbia and beyond. It is a great way to start…
Read MoreButterfly or caterpillar? It’s time for transformation of the family justice system
“We have arrived at that point in history where we need to make an intentional choice: do we continue to be the cautious caterpillar, a justice system married to an adversarial process for families, to an ethic of rights and obligations, or do we choose to take a leadership role and be informed by what…
Read MorePreserve what matters; innovate where necessary
The Law Society of British Columbia regulates the legal profession in our province in the public interest. In my brief remarks when I swore in the new president and Benchers of the Law Society in January of this year—pre-pandemic, a long time ago—I ad-libbed (always a dangerous activity for a judge!) along the lines of:…
Read MoreAn “ecology of exclusion”: Indigenous people’s experiences of the justice system
At the most recent meeting of the A2JBC Leadership Group on October 27, 2020, we heard Indigenous leaders, lawyers and academics speak powerfully about how Indigenous people experience the justice system. The meeting focused in particular on “micro-discriminations” or “micro-aggressions”, which are the myriad ways (some not “micro” at all) that society’s racist prejudices are…
Read MoreIn praise of advocacy, and a challenge to the legal profession
This blog post is based on the Advocates’ Society Keynote delivered February 20, 2020. Full text of the speech is available here. “At the end of the day, we need and will continue to need people who can listen carefully, respond thoughtfully, and disagree civilly; who can identify the real issues, martial the relevant facts,…
Read MorePutting children at the centre
At the most recent meeting of the A2JBC Leadership Group on October 30, 2019, I was grateful for the opportunity to hear the perspective of experts, advocates and justice system participants on the topic of adverse childhood experience. The challenge posed to the group was how we—as leaders inside and outside of the justice system—can…
Read MoreGet ready for Access to Justice Week 2019!
Access to Justice Week is next week, October 28 to November 1, 2019, and you can feel the access to justice momentum with this week’s Proclamation in the BC legislature. BC held an Access to Justice Week last year, but this is the first year that the legislature is making a proclamation declaring Access to…
Read MoreThe Triple Aim: A cross-sector vision
This morning, A2JBC was proud to issue a media release advising that more than 50 justice sector organizations have signed onto the Access to Justice Triple Aim. The Triple Aim, borrowed from the health care sector, is a single goal with three elements: improved experience for the users of the justice system, improved population access…
Read More“It’s the economy, stupid”
[This blog post was previously published on The Access Revolution, a collaborative blog hosted by Dr. Julie Macfarlane and the National Self-Represented Litigants Project.] Sorry for the pejorative. It’s me quoting Professor Gillian Hadfield quoting James Carville, who famously advised Bill Clinton to focus on the economy during his 1992 presidential campaign. Gillian Hadfield is…
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