A Call for Action on Delay in the Civil Justice System
Stephen Ross is a member of The Advocates’ Society’s Civil Justice Delay Task Force. As part of the Task Force, Mr. Ross, with the assistance of Katrina Taibi, contributed to an article written by The Advocates’ Society on the issue of civil justice delays, titled “A Call for Action on Delay in the Civil Justice System”.
The article discusses the importance of the civil justice system and how the delays are creating severe and far-reaching consequences. Based on the systemic delays, the article makes the following Call to Action:
The Advocates’ Society calls on the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to urgently dedicate additional resources to the civil and family justice system, and calls on all stakeholders in the justice system, including governments, the courts, the bar and the public, to take immediate and concerted action to solve the endemic delays plaguing the delivery of civil and family justice across Canada.
The article concludes by setting out ideas that stakeholders may wish to explore in addressing civil justice delays.
The article has garnered Canadian-wide media attention, including the following:
- Radio Interviews:
- The Advocates’ Society President, Dominique Hussey, appeared on CBC London for an interview on July 10, 2023
- Task Force member, Doug McGillivray, appeared in two Alberta interviews:
- News Articles:
- CBC News, “Canada’s backlogged civil and family courts in ‘crisis,’ according to lawyers group” (July 10, 2023)
- Amanda Jerome, “‘Mounting distress signal’ over court delays inspires call to action from The Advocates’ Society” Law360 (July 12, 2023)
- Zena Olijnyk, “Advocates’ group cites coming crisis in civil and family court delays, makes plea for more resources” Canadian Lawyer (July 14, 2023)
We hope that this Call to Action is just the beginning of reducing civil delays to ensure access to justice for all.