Excessive costs cheapen justice
TheStar.com – comment/editorial – Excessive costs cheapen justice
November 24, 2007
Canadians want a fair and accessible justice system, giving equal opportunity to all. What they have, instead, is a legal realm readily available only to corporations, the rich and the very poorest of society.
Justice open to everyone is a defining principle of democracy but this country falls short of that ideal, putting Canadian values at risk.
When middle class people, ineligible for government-funded legal aid, assert their right to seek justice it often means a taking second mortgage on a home, losing their retirement savings, and the very real threat of bankruptcy. Few people have readily available the $60,700 needed to pay for an average three-day civil trial. And many court actions last far longer than that.
Discouraged by the unbearable expense of the system, some people give up on justice. Others try to navigate this potentially treacherous terrain on their own, without a lawyer, often with disastrous results.
Even legal aid, meant to give the poor a route to justice, has become so limited that a single person earning just $16,000 a year, after taxes, is considered too affluent to qualify. Such people are supposed to hire their own lawyer, like the rich do. Those who can afford it secure the best legal brains they can muster, and corporations are even allowed to write off court costs as a business expense in calculating their taxes. Their access to justice is subsidized by ordinary taxpayers – people who have no right to claim legal costs as a tax deduction.
For much of this year, the Star has attacked barriers blocking the way to justice in this country and, in news stories and editorials, has pressed for fundamental change. A breakthrough was achieved this week when former associate chief justice Coulter Osborne outlined a set of much-needed reforms in a report to Ontario’s attorney general.
In an effort to have more cases heard in small claims court, where the pace is relatively fast and legal costs low, Osborne urged the province to allow claims worth up to $25,000 in such courts – up from a $10,000 ceiling in force today. He also proposed help for people arguing their own cases, including provision of easy to read, step-by-step guides to assist these “unrepresented litigants” in finding their way.
Other worthwhile recommendations include shortening trials by giving judges the power to impose strict time limits on courtroom arguments; requiring lawyers to give their clients a “litigation budget” before starting a case; and restricting the scope of lengthy and often ruinously expensive pre-trial “examinations for discovery.”
Attorney General Chris Bentley has promised to assess the nature and needs of unrepresented litigants and vowed to pay close attention to the rest of the report. That is a good start. But more change is needed before Canada’s justice system becomes truly accessible.
Ottawa has a role to play, too. One way to ease the onerous cost of justice is to remove the federal government’s goods and services tax from legal bills, resulting in a 5 per cent saving. Such a move would save litigants millions of dollars a year. Recognizing their fees are beyond the reach of a great many Canadians, law firms should do more free-of-charge, or “pro bono,” work. Expanded emphasis on such service could be used to give younger lawyers in a firm valuable experience in advocating before a judge.
In addition, a study should be undertaken to assess the impact of making legal bills tax deductible for all Canadians, not just corporations. Such deductions would be of huge benefit to the middle class.
Canadians trust that when they are wronged, they are entitled to their day in court. But that day loses all meaning when it comes at the cost of bankruptcy. The justice system must reconnect to the people it has abandoned. No country can provide equality for all when its legal system is priced beyond the reach of most citizens.
This entry was posted on Saturday, November 24th, 2007 at 12:23 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
168 Responses to “Excessive costs cheapen justice”
« Older Comments | Newer Comments »
Leave a Reply
Recent Comments
My coder is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on numerous websites for about a year and am nervous about switching to another platform. I have heard great things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import all my wordpress posts into it? Any help would be really appreciated!
If wings are your thing, Tinker Bell’s sexy Halloween costume design is all grown up.
Thank you for this great piece of content. Best Regards
Woah this is just an insane amount of information, must of taken ages to compile so thanx so much for just sharing it with all of us. If your ever in any need of related information, just check out my own site!
Hi, do have a e-newsletter? In the event you don’t definately should get on that piece…this web site is pure gold!
Hi my family member! I want to say that this article is amazing, great written and include approximately all important infos. I’d like to see more posts like this .
OK, you outline what is a big issue. But, can’t we develop more answers in the private sector?
I have been curious about these trends, and you have really helped me. I have just told a few of my friends about this on FaceBook and they love your content just as much as I do.
Fantastic piece of writing here1
Only a smiling visitor here to share the love (:, btw outstanding style and design .
I’d like to be able to write like this, but taking the time and developing articles is hard…. Takes a lot of effort.
I discovered your weblog site on google and verify just a few of your early posts. Proceed to maintain up the very good operate. I simply further up your RSS feed to my MSN News Reader.
Appreciation for taking the time to discuss this topic, I would love to discover more on this topic. If viable, as you gain expertise, would you object to updating the website with further information? It is tremendously beneficial for me.
I think that may be an interesting element, it made me assume a bit. Thanks for sparking my considering cap. On occasion I get so much in a rut that I simply really feel like a record.
Howdy I wanted to write a new remark on this page for you to be able to tell you just how much i actually Enjoyed reading this read. I have to run off to work but want to leave ya a simple comment. I saved you So will be returning following work in order to go through more of yer quality posts. Keep up the good work.
I am glad to be a visitor on this website!, regards for this rare information!
When are you going to take this to a full book?
This will be helpful for my family.
Please let us know when you plan to publish your book!
Aktualny przegląd promocji na 2026 rok obejmuje kasyna online, które oferują bonus bez depozytu w formie darmowych spinów, dodatkowych środków lub pakietu łączonego. Pokazujemy, jak aktywować ofertę, jakie wymagania obrotu trzeba spełnić oraz które limity wypłat warto sprawdzić przed rozpoczęciem gry. Bonus bez depozytu za utworzenie konta pozostaje jedną z najpopularniejszych promocji w kasynach online. Pozwala nowym użytkownikom przetestować platformę, dostępne gry kasynowe oraz obsługę konta bez konieczności dokonywania pierwszej wpłaty. Przygotowując ranking najlepszych kasyn z bonusami bez depozytu 2026, porównaliśmy aktualne propozycje operatorów, w tym oferty Roman Casino i NV Casino.