by Karen Sawatzky | Jun 11, 2018 | Access to Justice, Family Law
The Manitoba government has just released a report titled Modernizing Our Family Law System, by Manitoba’s Family Law Reform Committee. The 10 page report, followed by 4 pages of appendices, is written in plain English, befitting the audience it is intended for. The Committee suggests a three year pilot project.
Our model would by legislation, require all matters proceeding
under the Family Maintenance Act to be commenced by
an application form which would be simple enough that an
individual could complete it with or without the assistance
of a lawyer.
...
While restricting this pilot project to Family Maintenance Act
matters will significantly limit the scope of this initiative, we
believe there will be a large volume of matters, sufficient to
test the effectiveness of this approach during the pilot phase.
The Committee was formed in the fall of 2017, and completed their report in record time, as mandated by Justice Minister Stefanson.
As many studies have noted, the adversarial court system does not work well for family law matters. Families must continue to work together after divorce and custody issues are taken care of. We will be watching for the government to introduce legislation to enable this project, and keep you informed when it has been released.
News Release: Family Law Modernization Report Recommends Innovative Pilot Project to Improve Outcomes for Children and Families
Both ‘opportunity’ and loss for lawyers in revamp of Manitoba family law
by Allyssa McFadyen | Jun 8, 2018 | Access to Justice, Wills and Estates
On June 18th the Winnipeg Public Library in conjunction with Community Legal Education Association is hosting a free session on Wills at the Windsor Park branch.
Lawyer Marvin Giesbrecht, of St. Mary’s Law LLP will be speaking about what a will is, what it does, and what to include in your will.
Registration is required. For more information click HERE.
In keeping with this theme, we have created a display of relevant titles available here in the library.
Titles are:
If you’re looking to take out any of these books, please see a staff member. (48 hour loan period).
by Allyssa McFadyen | Jun 4, 2018 | Access to Justice, Public Legal Education, Wills and Estates
On Thursday June 7th the Winnipeg Public Library in conjunction with Community Legal Education Association is hosting a free session on Estates as part of their Law in the Library series.
During the session they will discuss topics such as duties of an executor, what needs to be probated, and issues regarding wills.
Registration is required. For more information click HERE.
In keeping with this theme, we have created a display of relevant titles available here in the library.
Titles are:
If you’re looking to take out any of these books, please see a staff member. (48 hour loan period).
by Karen Sawatzky | May 16, 2018 | Access to Justice, Criminal Law, Sentencing
Gladue reports are pre-sentencing or bail hearing reports which take into account Indigenous offenders’ background on sentencing. They stem from a landmark 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision. The University of Saskatchewan has developed a research database to assist Gladue report writers by making them easier and less costly to prepare. Access to the database is by subscription, which revenue will be used to hire students to update the database.
The new Gladue Rights Research Database provides lawyers, researchers and others with instant access to the insights and conclusions of more than 500 academic works related to the history of settler colonialism in Saskatchewan. It also includes a large and growing body of oral history resources and key archival documents.
Robson Hall at the University of Manitoba has developed a Gladue Handbook to help report writers in Manitoba.
This is a really interesting and exciting development for the protection of Gladue rights.
News release from University of Saskatchewan
by Karen Sawatzky | May 8, 2018 | Access to Justice
Experts are meeting this week for Accessing Justice: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Access, Justice, Law and Order at the University of Winnipeg, May 9-11, 2018.
The University of Winnipeg’s Centre for Interdisciplinary Justice Studies is hosting a public conference beginning Wednesday that will bring together academics, human rights and legal experts, as well as Manitoba Queen’s Bench Justice Colleen Suche. [Winnipeg Free Press, p. B1, May 7, 2018] (subscription required)
Topics range from accessing legal professionals and legal services to the effects of decolonialization for identity and migration.
The full program is available here.
by Karen Sawatzky | Apr 20, 2018 | Access to Justice, Commentary, Legal Research
You asked, they listened! Last month, CanLII announced that several law reviews would be added to the platform. Then, a few weeks ago, a couple of newsletters were added. Today, they announced even more commentary:
Last month we were delighted to announce that law journal articles and newsletters are now available in CanLII’s Commentary section, and now we get to tell you that we have added more books and reports.
Providing authoritative legal resources for the profession and the public while using CanLII’s intuitive search platform is fantastic. Kudos to CanLII and the Federation of Law Societies of Canada for the successful completion of this project.
Check the CanLII blog for the full announcement.
Great LEXpectations RSS Feed