Conference: 2nd ANnual People-Centred Justice Workshop

The second annual hybrid People-Centred Justice Workshop (the Workshop) was held over two days at the University of Montréal in Quebec from May 24-25, 2024. The event, organized by BC ACE (University of Victoria) in collaboration with the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice (CFCJ) and CREATE Justice (University of Saskatchewan College of Law), was a resounding success.

Click here for a full report.

We hope to build on this success in May 2025, when we will be meeting again in Vancouver for the third edition of the Workshop, this time focused on the theme of “Innovation in People-Centred Justice”. BC ACE looks forward to hosting this event in collaboration with the University of British Columbia’s Allard School of Law and Thompson Rivers University’s Faculty of Law.

SPECIAL ISSUE:  PERSON-CENTRED JUSTICE


ACE Associate Andrew Pilliar (TRU Law) and ACE Director Michelle Lawrence (UVic Law) will be guest editors for a 2024 Special Issue of the Canadian Journal of Law & Society / Revue Canadienne Droit & Societe. The special issue is titled “Person-Centred Justice: Reimagining Law, Institutions and Process.” It promises to showcase interdisciplinary scholarship that examines and expounds on the concept of “person-centred justice” – what it means and what it might mean to reimagine and reform a justice system based on this concept.

 

Research: Artificial Intelligence Risk and Regulation Lab

ACE Associate Director, Michael Litchfield is leading this multifaceted research project to investigate the risks and regulation of artificial intelligence implementation in Canada.

Click here for more information.

RESEARCH: ACCESS TO JUSTICE & THE OPEN COURT PRINCIPLE

Michelle Lawrence and Robert Lapper, KC, are investigating the legal requirements of the open court principle in the post-pandemic era, with specific attention to the use of virtual hearings in administrative tribunal processes. Their study will seek to inform best practices by ascertaining minimum requirements at law, identifying permissible and potentially impermissible variations in approach (including variations in process and use of technology), examining potential access to justice implications, and clarifying the scope of remedies available on breach. Funding support has been generously provided by the Canadian Foundation for Legal Research.

Research: JUSTICE DATA AND DESIGN LAB

Kate Gower is leading this exciting project bringing fresh eyes and skillsets to the access to justice problem. We designed and built a Research Engine that uses unsupervised machine learning to identify legal needs. Students from law, data science, computer science, and public administration collaborate and use the Research Engine to collect, aggregate and analyze data and user experience on people’s everyday legal problems.

Click here for further information.

Research: Access to Legal Education.

Rachel Lewis is examining the struggles of the neurodiverse within the traditional pedagogies of law schools, with the goal of developing a project proposal for better understanding and better support for future lawyers with extraordinary minds.

Visit the project website at neurodiversityinlaw.ca for more information.

Course: Open Access to Justice

UVic ACE is currently working on an access to justice course.

Stay tuned here for further information.

Research: Developing a Cross-Sector Justice Metrics Strategy

The following research reports are part of a project to support a coordinated provincial strategy to enhance the quality and comprehensiveness of justice metrics and empirical research on A2J in in BC. Click below to read the reports.

"A Supreme Lack of Information" September.2015

"What do we want to know about Access to Justice in BC?" September.2018