Category Archives: Access to Justice

Interim Costs and Access to Justice at the Supreme Court of Canada

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Case considered: R. v. Caron, 2011 SCC 5

The Supreme Court recently upheld the Alberta Court of Appeal decision in R. v. Caron, 2009 ABCA 34. That decision affirmed the jurisdiction of a superior court to award interim costs for public interest litigation before the provincial court, and found that Caron’s language rights challenge was an appropriate one in which to order interim costs pursuant to the test in British Columbia (Minister of Forests) v. Okanagan Indian Band, 2003 SCC 71, [2003] 3 S.C.R. 371 (Okanagan). The Supreme Court’s decision was unanimous (with a majority judgment by Justice Ian Binnie and a concurring judgment by Justice Rosalie Abella), and was welcomed by groups such as the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA). The CCLA had intervened in the case along with a number of other public interest groups, indicating some anxiety that entitlement to interim costs awards as originally set out in Okanagan may be further restricted by the Supreme Court, a restriction it commenced in Little Sisters Book and Art Emporium v. Canada (Commissioner of Customs and Revenue), 2007 SCC 2, [2007] 1 S.C.R. 38 (Little Sisters (No.2)).

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Introducing LawNet Alberta, formerly known as ACJNet Alberta

Thanks to the Alberta Law Foundation, the Access to Justice Network, ACJNet, a well-known Canadian public legal information and education site, has been comprehensively restructured and re-launched as three attractive web portals: LawNet Alberta, LawNet Canada, and LawNet Français. The new LawNet Alberta portal has some interesting new features, including a Special Topics section that features items related to issues of interest to Albertans. That section currently includes information on topics such as “Full Body Scanners in Airports”, “Grandparents’ Rights” and “Privacy and Facebook.”

Access to Justice and Representation by Agents

By: Jennifer Koshan

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Case Commented On: R v Frick, 2010 ABPC 280

Cutbacks to legal aid are a harsh reality in Alberta and the rest of Canada. As noted on the website of Legal Aid Alberta (LAA), “as of April 6, 2010, LAA’s eligibility guidelines for full representation by a lawyer have decreased by 30%”. This is due in part to the fact that in this province at present, legal aid funding is highly dependent upon Alberta Law Foundation revenue, and this revenue has been adversely affected by the economic downturn. It is also due to government cuts to Legal Aid. Legal Aid has developed a bandaid of sorts through Legal Services Centres, which “provide clients access to legal information, referral and brief services (in family, criminal, civil and immigration matters) with legal advice in immigration and non-family civil matters.” However, these centres exist only in Calgary and Edmonton, deal only with certain legal matters at present, and perhaps most importantly, do not provide full legal representation. Attempts by lawyers such as Dugald Christie and the Canadian Bar Association to bring constitutional claims asserting rights to representation by paid legal counsel in certain circumstances have not been successful. In such a climate, it is not surprising that other actors – such as agents – have stepped into the fray to provide legal services. A recent Alberta Provincial Court case, R v Frick, shows that there are legislative and constitutional limits to the role that agents can play in filling the gaps in legal aid.

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Supreme Court grants leave to appeal in Caron

Case considered: R. v. Caron, 2009 ABCA 34, leave granted by SCC August 27, 2009

The Supreme Court of Canada has released its decision on the Alberta government’s leave to appeal application in R. v. Caron. Chief Justice McLachlin and Justices Abella and Rothstein granted the government’s leave application (without costs). As is typical in such matters, no reasons for decision were given. The case concerns an interim costs award that was granted to Caron to help fund his language rights challenge against Alberta legislation. As noted in a previous post, Caron was granted an interim costs award by Justice V.O. Ouellette of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench in October 2007. This award was upheld by the Alberta Court of Appeal in January 2009. In the meantime, Caron’s language rights challenge was successful after his Provincial Court trial, and this matter is now under appeal. Regardless of the outcome of the language rights challenge, the interim costs matter is a critical issue for access to justice. The Alberta Court of Appeal held that interim costs awards are available in quasi-criminal matters before provincial courts, and it is expected that this will be one of the government’s grounds for appeal. ABlawg will report on future developments in the case.

Interim Costs Order Upheld in Language Rights Case

Cases considered: R. v. Caron, 2009 ABCA 34.

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Gilles Caron was awarded interim costs in relation to expert and legal fees for a language rights claim that was eventually allowed by the Alberta Provincial Court (see my previous posts La Belle Province? Developments in Alberta Language Rights Cases, Special Enough? Interim Costs and Access to Justice). Caron’s language rights claim is now before the Alberta Court of Appeal, but in the meantime the Court upheld the interim costs order to Caron and clarified the jurisdiction of superior courts to grant such orders in quasi-criminal proceedings in provincial court.

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