Statistics Canada Catalogue no XIE Vol. 18 no. 10

Transcription

1 Statistics Caada Catalogue o XIE Vol. 18 o. 10 LEGAL AID IN CANADA : by Rebecca Johstoe ad Jeifer Thomas HIGHLIGHTS Total expeditures o legal aid i Caada were $536.1 millio i , a 14% decrease from Expressed i per capita terms, legal aid spedig dropped to $17.90 per Caadia i , compared to $21.00 i This marks the secod year i a row that expeditures decreased, edig a period of geerally icreased expeditures betwee ad (with the exceptio of , whe a slight decrease was experieced). Of the $465.1 millio spet o direct legal services i , 68% was paid to private lawyers, ad the other 32% wet to salaried professioals. Govermets cotiue to be the major source of reveue for legal aid plas, cotributig 90% of total reveues. The remaider of the reveue came from cliet cotributios ad cost recoveries (4%), legal professio cotributios (2%), ad other sources (3%). I , there were 824,451 applicatios submitted for legal aid assistace, a 15% drop from This is eve lower tha the 835,270 filed i , before the legal aid system experieced higher volumes of applicatios i the early ieties, with a peak of 1,171,095 applicatios i There were also fewer applicatios approved, totallig 510,914 i , 21% less tha the previous year. Approved applicatios costituted 62% of total applicatios received. The recet declies i approved applicatios ca be largely accouted for i Otario, where the govermet has reduced fudig. This has resulted i tighteed eligibility criteria for legal aid i Otario. Although all but two jurisdictios approve more applicatios for crimial cases tha for civil, at the atioal level, slightly over half of all approved applicatios (53%) are civil cases.

2 Orderig/Subscriptio iformatio All prices exclude sales tax Catalogue o XPE, is published i a paper versio for $10.00 per issue or $93.00 for a aual subscriptio i Caada. Outside Caada the cost is US$10.00 per issue or US$93.00 for a aual subscriptio. Catalogue o XIE, is available o Iteret for $8.00 cd per issue or $70.00 cd for a aual subscriptio. Please sed orders to Statistics Caada, Operatios ad Itegratio Divisio, Circulatio Maagemet, 120 Parkdale Aveue, Ottawa, Otario, K1A 0T6 or by diallig (613) or , by fax (613) or or by Iteret: order@statca.ca. For chage of address, please provide both old ad ew addresses. Statistics Caada publicatios may also be purchased from authorized agets, bookstores ad local Statistics Caada offices. Jue 1998 Catalogue o XPE ISSN X Catalogue o XIE ISSN Published by authority of the Miister resposible for Statistics Caada. Miister of Idustry, 1998 All rights reserved. No part of this publicatio may be reproduced, stored i a retrieval system or trasmitted i ay form or by ay meas, electroic, mechaical, photocopyig, recordig or otherwise without prior writte permissio from Licece Services, Marketig Divisio, Statistics Caada, Ottawa, Otario, Caada K1A 0T6. Note of appreciatio Caada owes the success of its statistical system to a log-stadig co-operatio ivolvig Statistics Caada, the citizes of Caada, its busiesses, govermets ad other istitutios. Accurate ad timely statistical iformatio could ot be produced without their cotiued co-operatio ad goodwill. Stadards of service to the public Statistics Caada is committed to servig its cliets i a prompt, reliable ad courteous maer ad i the official laguage of their choice. To this ed, the agecy has developed stadards of service which its employees observe i servig its cliets. To obtai a copy of these service stadards, please cotact your earest Statistics Caada Regioal Referece Cetre. The paper used i this publicatio meets the miimum requiremets of America Natioal Stadard for Iformatio Scieces Permaece of Paper for Prited Library Materials, ANSI Z Itroductio It is etreched i Sectio 10(b) of the Caadia Charter of Rights ad Freedoms (1982) that all Caadias have the right to retai cousel without delay for crimial cases. Legal aid plas have bee established i all provices ad territories, with the commo goal of assistig low-icome Caadias who require professioal legal cousel. Otario eacted the first legal aid act i The remaiig jurisdictios soo followed suit with the last legal aid act beig eacted i 1979 by Yuko. Prior to legislatio, legal aid was admiistered primarily o a iformal basis with lawyers voluteerig their services. This differs from preset-day services i both the extet ad philosophy of assistace. I the past, legal aid was viewed as a expressio of the legal professio s social resposibility; however it more recetly has come to be viewed as both a aspect of social welfare ad a importat compoet of a effective justice system. Legal aid plas i Caada provide legal represetatio, advice, referrals ad iformatio services. Because the admiistratio of justice is a provicial resposibility, the orgaizatioal structure, eligibility requiremets, ad applicatio of the legal aid plas differ i each provice ad territory. Cosiderig these fudametal differeces i the structure ad the accompayig orgaizatioal differeces, cautio must be used whe makig iter-jurisdictioal comparisos of legal aid plas i Caada. This Juristat provides iformatio o the orgaizatio ad costs of legal aid i Caada. It icludes iformatio o legal aid delivery systems, reveues ad expeditures, ad applicatios for legal aid. I additio, it describes how costcuttig measures have had a impact o applicatio approval rates ad delivery of legal aid services. Legal Aid Delivery Systems i Caada Three basic models have bee adopted to deliver legal aid services. Judicare, a fee-for-service system, uses private lawyers who bill the legal aid pla for their services. The cliet may retai ay lawyer who is willig to accept the case. New Bruswick, Otario 1 ad Alberta are the oly provices which operate judicare systems. A staff system (sometimes referred to as a public defeder model), directly employs lawyers to provide legal aid services. Newfoudlad 2, Price Edward Islad, Nova Scotia ad Saskatchewa have adopted this approach. Eve i staff systems, the private bar is used whe circumstaces warrat, such as coflict of iterest, or uavailability of a staff lawyer. A combiatio of the judicare ad staff systems, a mixed system utilizes both private ad staff lawyers i the provisio of legal services. The remaiig five jurisdictios (Quebec, Maitoba, British Columbia, Northwest Territories, ad Yuko) operate mixed systems of legal aid. I most of these jurisdictios the cliet has the right to choose cousel, either staff or private, from a pael of lawyers providig legal aid services. 1 Although the Otario Legal Aid Pla cosiders its delivery system a mixed model of service, Otario is preseted here as a primarily judicare model, sice such a high proportio of direct legal expeditures is utilized by private lawyers i the provisio of legal aid services. 2 Although Newfoudlad Legal Aid Commissio cosiders its delivery system a mixed model of service, Newfoudlad is preseted here as a primarily staff model, sice such a high proportio of direct legal expeditures is utilized by staff lawyers i the provisio of legal aid services. 2 Statistics Caada Catalogue o XIE, Vol. 18, No. 10

3 Box 1 YOUNG OFFENDERS ACT AND LEGAL AID If circumstaces warrat, youths also have the right to legal aid. The federal/provicial/territorial cost sharig agreemets stipulate that all legal aid cases ivolvig the Youg Offeders Act are eligible for cost sharig betwee Justice Caada ad the provices ad territories. I most jurisdictios, youg persos betwee the ages of 12 ad 17 may apply for legal aid whe they have bee charged with a federal idictable offece. I most jurisdictios, the assessmet of fiacial eligibility is ofte based o parets icome; though, i most istaces, if parets are uwillig to cotribute to their child s legal aid expeses, legal aid coverage will ot be deied. Data specific to legal aid for youths are ot available; however it is kow that the youth crime rate ad the rate of court cases ivolvig youths are o the declie. The crime rate for youth has bee o a dowward tred sice 1991, droppig from 6,229 youths charged per 100,000 i 1991 to 4,874 per 100,000 i 1996 (a 22% decrease over the course of five years) 3. Similarly, the rate of youth court cases has dropped from 4,974 per 100,000 i to 4,553 per 100,000 i , a decrease of 8.5%. 4 3 Source: Uiform Crime Reportig Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics. 4 Source: Youth Cour t Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics. Legal aid for both civil ad crimial cases A importat factor i the decisio to grat legal aid is the ature of the case. Both crimial ad civil cases are covered by all legal aid plas; however the extet of coverage varies. Crimial legal aid coverage is, i part, determied uder federal/provicial/territorial cost-sharig agreemets. These agreemets set stadards for miimum legal aid coverage for crimial matters throughout Caada. I most jurisdictios, coverage is available for those charged with idictable offeces. However, i Otario ad British Columbia, both idictable ad summary covictio crimial cases are covered oly whe there is a threat of imprisomet. British Columbia will also cosider cases where there is a risk of loss of livelihood. Geerally, the coverage of summary covictio offeces is limited to cases where there is a likelihood of imprisomet or a dager of loss of livelihood. Civil cases are eligible for legal aid coverage everywhere i Caada. I practice, may of the civil cases hadled are family matters, especially i Price Edward Islad, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewa, Yuko ad New Bruswick. I the first four jurisdictios, limited coverage for o-family matters is provided. Other jurisdictios exted coverage to a broader rage of civil matters. Refugee cases ad cases ivolvig the Metal Health Act are also eligible uder legal aid plas i most jurisdictios. 5 I additio to the type of case, legal aid plas typically assess legal merit ad urgecy, the ature of the service applied for, the cost of the proceedigs, the chace of successfully wiig the case, ad the cliet s history. Also take ito cosideratio is whether or ot a reasoable perso who had to pay a lawyer would sped the moey to advace the case. 5 Readers are ivited to cosult Legal Aid i Caada: Descriptio of Operatios (catalogue o XDB), where a fuller descriptio of legal aid coverage is provided for each provice ad territory. Determiatio of eligibility While there are jurisdictioal differeces i legal aid eligibility requiremets, commo to all plas is a assessmet of the fiacial situatio of each applicat. This assessmet ofte takes ito cosideratio the idividual s icome, assets, ad family size, which are compared to a set of fiacial guidelies that have bee established by all jurisdictios except New Bruswick, where o set guidelies have bee set. These guidelies are cosidered i combiatio with other case factors. Not ecessarily free legal assistace Fiacial eligibility guidelies are used to assess the applicat s ability to afford legal cousel. Cliets may be requested to cotribute to the cost of services accordig to their ability to pay. A agreemet betwee the cliet ad the pla specifies the amout ad how it is to be paid. Cliet cotributios ad cost recoveries (icludes moies recovered from a judgmet, award or settlemet) amouted to $22.2 millio atioally i Tariffs have bee established i all jurisdictios, providig private lawyers with paymet for their legal aid cases. The tariff may provide for a hourly rate (which curretly rages from $45 to $102), or block fees (i.e., a flat fee prescribed for certai types of cases ad/or services). I several jurisdictios, the tariff may also deped o the lawyer s years of experiece, the type of case, ad the level of court i which proceedigs will take place. Geeral preparatio fees are also covered i the tariffs, ad are ofte specified by the jurisdictios. Staffig The staffig of legal aid plas depeds o the delivery system adopted by the provice or territory. Table 1 illustrates that provices with judicare systems employ proportioately fewer lawyers tha do the provices operatig staff systems. Overall, lawyers accout for 36% of the staff, a reasoably stable proportio sice the data series bega i Lawyers are resposible for providig most direct legal services (e.g., advice ad represetatio) to cliets, although other staff may assist i this work. I Caada i , 69% of direct legal service staff were lawyers. The remaiig 31% of staff providig direct legal services were other staff, such as para-legals ad law studets. There are other persoel who esure the accessibility ad productivity of the legal aid plas. They iclude admiistrative staff, law studets, accoutats, research staff, librarias ad others. Table 1 shows that o-lawyers accout for the highest proportio of legal aid persoel. Legal aid orgaizatios rage i staff size from 7 members, as i the case of Price Edward Islad ad Yuko, to 963 persoel i Quebec. The total umber of persoel i legal aid offices i Caada steadily icreased from to , but seems to have plateaued, with fairly stable persoel umbers sice Statistics Caada Catalogue o XIE, Vol. 18, No. 10 3

4 Table 1 Legal Aid Persoel Resources by Provice/Territory, Direct Legal Service Staff 1 Other 2 Jurisdictio % of No- % of No- No- Total Lawyers total Lawyers total Total Lawyers % Lawyers % Total Lawyers % Lawyers % Staff staff staff Primarily Judicare New Bruswick Otario Alberta Primarily Staff Newfoudlad Price Edward Islad Nova Scotia Saskatchewa Mixed Quebec Maitoba British Columbia Northwest Territories Yuko Caada 2,924 1, , , , , Source: Legal Aid Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics. - Nil or zero. Figures ot applicable or appropriate. 1 Icludes persos who delivered legal advice ad/or legal represetatio directly to cliets. 2 Icludes persos who did ot provide legal advice ad/or represetatio directly to cliets (e.g., accoutats, librarias, research staff, law studets ad clerical staff). Box 2 PARTICIPATION OF LAWYERS IN LEGAL AID I there were 67,038 lawyers registered as practisig members of the provicial ad territorial bars. Approximately 24% of these lawyers provided legal aid assistace i This percetage has remaied relatively stable over the past 10 years, fluctuatig betwee 23% ad 26%, meaig that early oe i four practisig lawyers provides legal aid services every year. Legal aid pla (staff) lawyers umbered 1,040 i , barely chagig from the total of 1,037. Clearly the 14,925 private lawyers who provided some type of legal aid assistace i , represet the majority of all lawyers providig legal aid services. Sources of Reveue Legal aid plas receive fudig from three mai sources: govermet cotributios, cliet cotributios ad cost recoveries, ad cotributios from the legal professio. Govermet cotributios iclude moies from both the federal ad provicial/territorial govermets. Figure 1 shows that overall govermet fudig climbed steadily from to , ad the levelled off. However, i the fiscal year, total govermet cotributios amouted to $496.6 millio, a 9% drop from Despite the drop i total actual dollar cotributios from govermets i (but a icrease i provicial/ territorial fudig), govermet fudig accouted for 90% of the total legal aid reveue, cotiuig as the major reveue source for legal aid i all jurisdictios. There are differeces Box 3 LEGAL AID PROVIDES DUTY COUNSEL SERVICES The majority of legal aid services cosists of providig advice, represetig cliets i court proceedigs, represetig cliets i admiistrative matters, drawig up legal documets, ad egotiatig settlemets. The extet of these services, especially i civil matters, differs by jurisdictio. I additio to the basic legal aid services, most jurisdictios have a duty cousel system to advise detaied persos ad persos appearig i court without cousel, to guide them i obtaiig legal services, ad to provide o-the-spot represetatio, if eeded. Duty cousel services are provided by staff lawyers i some jurisdictios, ad by private lawyers i others. The provisio of duty cousel services does ot bar the recipiet from subsequet applicatio for legal aid services. Lawyers who provide duty cousel services may be located i provicial/territorial crimial, family ad youth courts. However, the extet to which they are preset i these courts differs by jurisdictio. Nova Scotia ad Price Edward Islad do ot have duty cousel systems as such. Staff lawyers workig for the legal aid plas may advise or eve represet accused persos o the spot, if ecessary. 6 6 The reader is ivited to refer to the publicatio Legal Aid i Caada: Descriptio of Operatios, catalogue o XDB, available i electroic format oly, for more detailed iformatio pertaiig to legal aid coverage ad duty cousel i each jurisdictio. i the proportio of govermet fudig received by the jurisdictios. I Price Edward Islad ad the Northwest Territories, govermet fudig covers 100% of legal aid pla expeditures. I cotrast, govermet fudig accouts for 82% of Alberta s legal aid fudig. 4 Statistics Caada Catalogue o XIE, Vol. 18, No. 10

5 Figure 1 Curret $ (millios) Govermet cotributios to legal aid i Caada, to Total govermet cotributios Provicial/Territorial cotributios Source: Legal Aid Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics. Chages i provicial ad territorial fudig I total, provicial ad territorial govermet cotributios for amouted to $395.5 millio, a 11% icrease from the previous year. This follows a period of relatively little chage sice Figure 1 shows that the total provicial/territorial govermet fudig tred geerally follows the same geeral patter as the total govermet cotributios tred, util Although total provicial/ territorial fudig expressed as a proportio of total govermet cotributios has fluctuated sice , the tred towards icreased provicial/territorial resposibility for legal aid is evidet. Fudig from provicial/territorial govermets accouted for, o average, 48% of total govermet cotributios from to From to , this proportio icreased to 59%. More specifically, i , provicial/territorial cotributios accouted for 72% of total govermet fudig for legal aid, the highest proportio ever. Whe the jurisdictios are examied o a idividual basis, chages i the levels of cotributios are evidet. Table 2 shows that betwee ad , sigificat icreases i provicial fudig were experieced i Nova Scotia (51%), Quebec (46%), Newfoudlad (43%), New Bruswick (33%), Saskatchewa (33%), Maitoba (19%) ad Price Edward Islad (10%). With the exceptio of New Bruswick ad Price Edward Islad 7, the icreased provicial fudig i these provices is due i large part to the termiatio of the Caada Assistace Pla (CAP), a federal/provicial/territorial cost-sharig agreemet i existece from 1980 to March 31, The Caada Assistace Pla covered various social programs, icludig civil legal aid i eight provices. 8 O April 1, 1996, this program was replaced by the Caada Health ad Social Trasfer (CHST), a block trasfer program, which allows the jurisdictios more flexibility i determiig fudig priorities. 9 Commecig , moies received as a result of the ew CHST are icluded i provicial/territorial cotributios, however they caot be delieated from other provicial dollars. I cotrast, Yuko experieced a mior drop i territorial fudig (3%) from the previous fiscal year. Provicial/territorial fudig i Otario, Alberta, British Columbia ad the Northwest Territories remaied relatively stable from May govermets have iitiated cost-cuttig measures that have resulted i the freezig or reductio i the allocatio of moies to legal aid. For example, Otario s legal aid pla has recetly tighteed eligibility requiremets ad further limited the types of cases that receive legal aid coverage. Federal cotributios to legal aid Agreemets are i place betwee the federal ad provicial/ territorial govermets for the cost-sharig of crimial legal aid matters, ad for legal aid proceedigs uder the YOA. Provicial statute matters such as violatios uder liquor ad traffic laws are ot cost-shared. The federal cotributio by Justice Caada to crimial legal aid i was $85.0 millio, a 2% decrease over This cotributio has bee stable sice , whe a period of several years of icreases came to ed. Sice the termiatio of the Caada Assistace Pla ad the iceptio of the Caada Health ad Social Trasfer (April 1, 1996), the federal govermet o loger directly cotributes to civil legal aid. As previously metioed, uder this ew block trasfer program, the provices are ow resposible for their ow social program fudig priorities. Other sources of reveue Cliet cotributios ad cost recoveries accout for 4% of the total legal aid reveue. Cliet cotributios refer to moies received from the idividuals receivig legal aid ad cost recovery moey cosists of the moies recovered from a judgmet, award, or settlemet. As a proportio of total reveue, cliet cotributios have remaied stable at 3 to 4% sice the data series bega i Historically, cotributios from the legal professio have accouted for 2 to 4% of the overall legal aid reveue. I , it was 2% of total reveue, the same proportio sice Other icome sources iclude iterest from provicial law foudatios, publicatio sales, ad federal/provicial/territorial grats. I Otario, Maitoba ad Alberta, applicatio fees ragig from $10 to $25 have also bee istituted. However, these fees are waived if the cliet is uable to afford the 7 I , New Bruswick did ot receive CAP fudig for civil legal aid (though it did i previous years). Similarly, i , New Bruswick did ot receive fudig uder the ew CHST program. Price Edward Islad Legal Aid did ot receive CAP fudig, ad similarly does ot receive fudig uder CHST. 8 Otario ad British Columbia also received federal fudig for civil legal aid uder the Caada Assistace Pla. Commecig i both provices, a 5% ceilig for all programs etitled to assistace uder the program was imposed. 9 For further iformatio o federal cotributios to civil legal aid, see Legal Aid i Caada: Resource ad Caseload Statistics (catalogue o. 85F0015XPB). Statistics Caada Catalogue o XIE, Vol. 18, No. 10 5

6 Table 2 Provicial ad Territorial Govermet Cotributios to Legal Aid Plas, to % chage % chage % chage % chage % chage Jurisdictio from previous from previous from previous from previous from previous year year year year year Curret $(,000) Primarily Judicare New Bruswick 1, , , , , Otario 205, , , , ,096 2 Alberta 20, , , , ,140-1 Primarily Staff Newfoudlad 2, , , , , Price Edward Islad Nova Scotia 4,164-5, , , , Saskatchewa 3, , , , , Mixed Quebec 64, , , ,437 96, Maitoba 6, , , , , British Columbia 55, , , , ,400 - Northwest Territories 2, , , ,431 3,467 1 Yuko Caada 367, , , , , Source: Legal Aid Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics. - Nil or zero. Amout too small to be expressed. expese. I , these ad other sources of icome accouted for 3% of total reveue. Expeditures Legal aid pla expeditures amouted to $536.1 millio i I all jurisdictios, most of the moey ($465.1 millio, or 87% overall) was spet o direct legal expeditures, which icludes paymets made to private lawyers as well as the costs of legal service delivery by legal aid pla staff (i.e., moies spet o the provisio of legal advice, iformatio, represetatio ad referrals, ot icludig cetral admiistrative expeses of the legal aid plas). The other $71.0 millio (13%) i expeditures icurred by legal aid plas were for: other program expeditures, which icludes moies spet o legal research activities, public legal educatio ad grats to other agecies; ad cetral admiistrative expeditures, which iclude moies spet o head office fuctios ad o offices that do ot employ staff to advise ad represet cliets. Total expeditures steadily icreased from $219.5 millio i to $646.4 millio ($497.6 millio i costat dollars) i , (with a temporary drop i ). However, marks the secod cosecutive decrease of legal aid expeditures at the atioal level, droppig 14% over (see Figure 2). Expressed i costat ( ) dollars, spedig o legal aid amouted to $397.4 millio. This represets a 81% icrease over spedig, but a 20% decrease sice (i costat dollars). The overall declie i expeditures from was the result of reduced spedig i seve jurisdictios. Amog those reportig decreases, Otario experieced the largest at 24%, the result of capped govermet fudig through to The most marked icreases i expeditures i occurred i the other two provices employig the judicare model (New Bruswick ad Alberta, with icreases of 21% ad 17% respectively). Figure 2 $ millios Total legal aid expeditures, Caada, to Curret dollars Costat dollars ( ) Source: Legal Aid Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics. Provicial/territorial per capita expeditures vary greatly, as evidet i Table 3 below. Some of the factors accoutig for the variatios i per capita spedig are: the ature of service delivery; the socio-ecoomic characteristics of the regio; the crime rate; ad populatio desity. Servicig sparsely populated areas is a sigificat cost factor i the delivery of legal aid i the Northwest Territories 10 ad Yuko. 10 Expeditures for the Northwest Territories iclude Aborigial Courtworker services ad public legal educatio ad iformatio. 6 Statistics Caada Catalogue o XIE, Vol. 18, No. 10

7 Table 3 Per Capita Spedig by Provice/Territory, Per capita % chage Jurisdictio Expediture from previous year Primarily Judicare New Bruswick $ Otario $ Alberta $ Primarily Staff Newfoudlad $ Price Edward Islad $ Nova Scotia $ Saskatchewa $8.76 Mixed Quebec $ Maitoba $13.24 British Columbia $ Northwest Territories $ Yuko $ Caada $ Source: Legal Aid Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics Amout to small to be expressed. More moey allocated to civil tha crimial cases I , 57% of direct legal aid expeditures were for civil cases, ad 43% for crimial (excludig the Northwest Territories, sice this breakdow is ot available). The proportioate allocatio of reveues to crimial versus civil matters varies cosiderably by jurisdictio, as Table 4 shows. The proportio of expeditures allocated to each type of case is represetative of provicial priorities. For example, i Nova Scotia, the crimial-civil expediture proportios are essetially equal; whereas i Quebec, 67% of its expeditures are allocated to civil cases, ad the remaiig 33% to crimial cases. The priorities placed o the type of case have implicatios for who receives legal aid. Applicatios The demad for legal aid i Caada is evidet, i part, by the umber of applicatios that the provices ad territories receive. The umber of applicatios, however, does ot reflect all requests for legal aid assistace, sice applicats are screeed to some degree before a applicatio is filed. Applicatios also do ot etirely reflect demad or eed sice some people may ot eve apply for aid, despite the eed. Also, coverage ad eligibility requiremets chage over time, ofte further imposig restrictios o the types of cases take o by the legal aid plas. As oted earlier, several factors are take ito cosideratio whe assessig legal aid applicatios. Applicats must prove that they meet certai fiacial eligibility requiremets, the matter meets coverage provisios, ad i some cases, has legal merit. A applicat may be approved for either summary or full services. 11 Summary services iclude the provisio of legal advice, iformatio, or ay other type of miimal legal service grated to a idividual durig a formal iterview. Full services, o the other had, costitute more extesive legal assistace. A applicat receivig full service is grated a legal aid certificate or other authorizatio deotig etitlemet to legal services, which may iclude court represetatio, i additio to iformatio ad advice. I , 824,451 applicatios were submitted for legal aid assistace, a 15% decrease compared to This is eve lower tha the 835,270 filed i , before the higher volumes of applicatios i the early ieties, with a peak of 1,171,095 applicatios i Figure 3 shows that betwee ad , the umber of 11 Total ad refused applicatio couts preseted here, iclude both summary ad full service applicatios, whereas approved applicatios refer to full service applicatios oly. Table 4 Direct Legal Expeditures, by Provice/Territory, Staff % of Private % of Crimial % of Civil % of Jurisdictio Lawyers total Lawyers total Total Cases total Cases total $(,000) $(,000) $(,000) $(,000) $(,000) Primarily Judicare New Bruswick , ,090 1, , Otario 33, , ,386 91, , Alberta 1, , ,621 14, , Primarily Staff Newfoudlad 4, ,545 3, , Price Edward Islad Nova Scotia 7, , ,986 5, , Saskatchewa 7, ,280 5, , Mixed Quebec 58, , ,040 34, , Maitoba 5, , ,606 5, , British Columbia 24, , ,411 36, , Northwest Territories , , Yuko Caada 146, , , Source: Legal Aid Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics Note: The percetage of crimial versus civil cases for Caada as a whole excludes the Northwest Territories, as this breakdow is uavailable... Figures ot available Statistics Caada Catalogue o XIE, Vol. 18, No. 10 7

8 Figure 3 Millio Legal aid applicatios¹, ², approved ad refused, Caada, to Total Approved Refused ¹ Total applicatios ad refused applicatios figures do ot iclude Price Edward Islad, sice oly records of approved applicatios are kept. ² The sum of approved ad refused applicatios may ot equal the total applicatios cout for two reasos: (i) a decisio to accept or reject a applicatio may ot occur i the time period the applicatio is made; (ii) approved applicatios iclude full service applicatios oly, whereas the total applicatio couts is the sum of applicatios approved for service, icludig full ad summary service, ad refused applicatios. Source: Legal Aid Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics. applicatios submitted to legal aid plas i Caada 12 had bee steadily icreasig, but i a dowward tred bega. A umber of factors specific to the plas themselves may accout for this recet declie, such as: applicatio fees; pre-screeig procedures ad further restrictios to the types of cases that receive legal aid coverage; ad stricter eligibility requiremets implemeted i certai jurisdictios. These factors ad others could cotribute to the dowward tred i the umber of applicatios for legal aid. Budget cuts mea fewer applicatios are approved Fewer people are applyig for legal aid, ad eve fewer applicatios are beig approved for full service. I , there were 510,914 applicatios approved for legal aid i Caada. This umber reflects a 21% drop from the previous year ad marks a four-year dowward tred i approval umbers ad rates. Overall, 62% of total legal aid applicatios were approved for full service. Table 5 idicates that Saskatchewa ad Yuko had the highest approval rates, both approvig 93% of total applicatios i Recet cost-cuttig measures itroduced i some jurisdictios have left legal aid plas with smaller budgets, ofte ecessitatig cuts to the umber of approved legal aid applicatios. For example, Nova Scotia is i its fial year of a four-year budget reductio program that icluded cuttig the umber of approved cases. The Northwest Territories has reduced coverage for family ad other civil cases. More civil applicatios approved overall Table 5 idicates that civil cases accout for slightly over half of approved cases at the Caada level. This is due to the fact that the two largest provices, Otario 13 ad Quebec, 12 Total applicatio figures do ot iclude Price Edward Islad sice oly couts of approved applicatios are maitaied. 13 It should be oted that the higher proportio of approved civil cases i Otario is due to the fact that applicatios for services from commuity cliics have bee icluded. These cliics hadle strictly civil cases. Table 5 Applicatios for Legal Aid, by Provice/Territory, Approved Applicatios Jurisdictio Total Approved % Applicatios Applicatios Approved Crimial % Civil % Primarily Judicare New Bruswick 2,522 1, , Otario 1 307, , , , Alberta 35,659 28, , , Staff Newfoudlad 18,097 10, , , Price Edward Islad.. 1,210 1, Nova Scotia 21,661 16, , , Saskatchewa 23,027 21, , , Mixed Quebec 2 284, , , , Maitoba 23,867 18, , , British Columbia 103,406 56, , , Northwest Territories 2,889 2, , Yuko 1,471 1, , Caada 824, , , , Source: Legal Aid Survey, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics. Note: The total applicatios figure for Caada does ot iclude Price Edward Islad, sice oly records of approved applicatios are kept. 1 I , Otario received 110,628 applicatios for full service, of which 74,792 (68%) were approved. 2 Approved applicatios iclude summary services i Quebec... Figures ot available.... Figures ot appropriate or ot applicable. 8 Statistics Caada Catalogue o XIE, Vol. 18, No. 10

9 approve more applicatios for civil cases tha crimial cases. The other jurisdictios approved more crimial applicatios tha civil, except i Maitoba where the civil-crimial split was fairly eve. Figure 4 Rates of Crimial Code icidets¹, Caada, These differeces ca be explaied by the coverage requiremets that each jurisdictio adopts i their legal aid plas. For example, Quebec provides for much broader coverage of civil cases tha most of the other jurisdictios. This coverage icludes applicatios for icome security, auto ad employmet isurace, ad workers compesatio. Price Edward Islad, o the other had, exteds coverage to few civil cases. Table 5 idicates that i Quebec, 64% of approved applicatios are civil cases, as opposed to 6% i Price Edward Islad. These proportios clearly idicate that the legal aid plas i each provice ad territory have differet priorities ad demads. Fewer applicatios refused The umber of refused applicatios also decreased i , totallig 149,598 compared to 170,023 i This costitutes a 12% drop i the umber of refused applicatios. 14 However, it is importat whe evaluatig the umbers of total ad refused applicatios to cosider the effects that pre-screeig may have o the umbers of applicatios for legal aid services. Pre-screeig ofte lowers the umbers of both the total ad refused applicatios because idividuals are refused legal aid before formally applyig for legal assistace. Reduced Need for Legal Aid? Decliig rates i legal aid applicatios certaily reflect reduced budgets. However, to what extet do they suggest a reduced eed for aid? Sice the legal aid survey does ot measure eed, it is ot possible to aswer the questio directly. May factors likely ifluece the decisio of potetial legal aid cliets to seek assistace - kowledge that legal aid exists, their perceptio of success i obtaiig it, ad its availability i their commuity, for example. Because a sigificat portio of legal aid expeditures is spet o crimial matters, broader crimial justice idicators such as decreasig crime rates ad court caseloads may suggest a reduced demad for service, everythig else beig equal. Similarly, sice legal aid is targeted at low-icome Caadias, ecoomic idicators such as levels of uemploymet or icome levels may be useful to examie. Such complex aalysis is outside the scope of this report. However, some of these justice ad ecoomic idicators are preseted as backgroud iformatio. Some of the treds are cosistet with the otio of decreased eed. For example, as see i Figure 4, crime rates (for adults ad youths) have decreased i recet years. There has also bee a declie i the crimial court cases for youths ad adults. 15 Also, the uemploymet rate has geerally declied sice 1992, as show i Figure 5. However, other treds are cosistet with a icreased eed for legal aid. Data from the 1996 Survey of Cosumer Fiaces idicate that betwee 1988 ad 1995, the average Rate per 100,000 populatio 11,000 10,000 9,000 8,000 7,000 6, ¹ Rates iclude both youth ad adult icidets. Source: Kog, Rebecca. "Caadia Crime Statistics, 1996," Juristat Vol. 17 No. 8, Statistics Caada. Figure 5 % Labour force statistics, uemploymet rate¹, Caada, ¹ The uemploymet rate is expressed as a percetage of the labour force for both sexes, 15 years ad over. Source: Labour Force Survey, Household Surveys Divisio. icome of Caadias (i costat 1995 dollars) decreased. More specifically, betwee these years, the average aftertax icome for the 20% of the populatio i the lowest icome group has decreased 3%. Although data are ot available to support a tred, it has bee suggested by legal professioals i Otario, that the umber of persos appearig i courtrooms without legal represetatio is icreasig, further suggestig a growig eed for legal aid services Refused applicatios couts exclude Price Edward Islad sice oly couts of approved applicatios are maitaied. 15 Iformatio o civil cases is uavailable. 16 Judge Ly Kig, Otario Court, Provicial Divisio i Legal aid austerity has lawyerless cloggig Otario courts, by Kirk Maki, The Globe ad Mail, Jauary 10, 1997 ad Rosemary Hatiuk, spokeswoma for the Law Society of Upper Caada i The dilemma for legal aid, by Salem Alato, The Globe ad Mail, August 27, Statistics Caada Catalogue o XIE, Vol. 18, No. 10 9

10 Other factors ot examied here, such as populatio growth, chages i family structure, chages i the populatio receivig social assistace, the rapid growth of immigratio, the availability of affordable housig, ad so o, may also play a role i the eed for legal aid. Establishig a coectio betwee these factors ad the eed for legal aid would be very complex. As a result, it is ot curretly possible to determie the eed for legal aid ad how it may or may ot be chagig over time. Methodology Data from this Juristat are obtaied from the Legal Aid Survey, coducted aually sice , by the Courts Program, Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics. The objective of this cesus survey is to provide reveue, expediture, persoel, ad caseload statistics associated with the delivery ad admiistratio of legal aid i Caada. Data are collected ad preseted at the aggregate provicial/territorial level. Data collectio for all but a few data elemets is admiistered through a survey questioaire to the twelve legal aid plas i Caada. Data o provicial/territorial govermet fiacial cotributios are obtaied from the appropriate departmet resposible for justice matters (i.e., the provicial/territorial departmet of justice or attorey geeral). Justice Caada provides the federal cotributios for crimial legal aid figures. I earlier years, durig the existece of the Caada Assistace Pla, figures for federal cotributios for civil legal aid were obtaied from Huma Resources Developmet Caada. Data o provicial ad territorial Bar membership are requested from the Federatio of Law Societies of Caada. Two aual reports are produced from the Legal Aid Survey. Legal Aid i Caada: Resource ad Caseload Statistics, (catalogue o. 85F0015XPB), cotais five-year time-series data o: reveue, by source of fudig; provicial/territorial ad federal cotributios; legal aid expeditures; paymets to private law firms, or fees paid for private lawyers services; direct legal service expeditures, by type of legal matter, by staff or private lawyers; persoel resources, by type of staff; duty cousel services; ad civil ad crimial caseload characteristics (total, approved ad refused applicatios) by type of legal matter. The qualitative report, Legal Aid i Caada: Descriptio of Operatios (catalogue o XDB), describes the structure ad admiistratio of provicial/territorial legal aid services i Caada. It also icludes iformatio o legislatio, orgaizatio, coverage, eligibility, duty cousel ad tariffs. Lists of resource persos ad legal aid office locatios are also provided. This report is available i electroic format oly, as a.pdf (Acrobat) file. Note: To adjust for the effect of iflatio, costat dollar figures have bee calculated usig the idexed chages i year-to-year reveues ad expeditures for goods ad services as reported by Statistics Caada s The Cosumer Price Idex, Catalogue No Refereces Alato, Salem. The dilemma for legal aid, i The Globe ad Mail. August 27, Employmet, Earigs ad Hours, Catalogue o XPB. Ottawa: Statistics Caada. Historical Labour Force Statistics. Catalogue o XPB, 1997 editio. Ottawa: Statistics Caada. Icome After Tax, Distributio by Size i Caada, Catalogue XPB. Ottawa: Statistics Caada. Kog, Rebecca. Caadia Crime Statistics, 1996, Juristat Vol. 17 No. 8. Ottawa: Statistics Caada. The Labour Force. Catalogue o XPB, December 1996 editio. Ottawa: Statistics Caada. Legal Aid i Caada: Resource ad Caseload Statistics Catalogue No. 85F0015XPB. Ottawa: Statistics Caada. Legal Aid i Caada: Descriptio of Operatios, March Catalogue No XDB. Ottawa: Statistics Caada. Maki, Kirk. Legal aid austerity has lawyerless cloggig Otario courts, i The Globe ad Mail, Jauary 10, Youth Court Statistics Catalogue o XPB. Ottawa: Statistics Caada. 10 Statistics Caada Catalogue o XIE, Vol. 18, No. 10

11 Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics For further iformatio, please cotact the Caadia Cetre for Justice Statistics, 19th floor, R.H. Coats Buildig, Ottawa, Otario K1A 0T6 at (613) or call toll-free To order a publicatio, you may telephoe (613) or fax (613) or iteret: order@statca.ca. You may also call (Caada ad Uited States) toll-free. If you order by telephoe, writte cofirmatio is ot required. Recet Juristat Releases Catalogue XPE 1997 Vol. 17 No. 1 Setecig i Adult Provicial Courts-A Study of Nie Caadia Jurisdictios:1993 & 1994 Vol. 17 No. 2 Vol. 17 No. 3 Street Prostitutio i Caada Justice Spedig i Caada Vol. 17 No. 4 Adult Correctioal Services i Caada, Vol. 17 No. 5 Crime i Major Metropolita Areas, Vol. 17 No. 6 Adult Crimial Court Statistics, Vol. 17 No. 7 Weapos ad Violet Crime Vol. 17 No. 8 Caadia Crime Statistics, 1996 Vol. 17 No. 9 Homicide i Caada, 1996 Vol. 17 No. 10 Youth Court Statistics Highlights Vol. 17 No. 11 Assaults Agaist Childre ad Youth i The Family, 1996 Vol. 17 No. 12 Impaired Drivig i Caada, 1996 Vol. 17 No. 13 The Justice Data Factfider 1998 Vol. 18 No. 1 Motor Vehicle Theft i Caada Vol. 18 No. 2 Missig ad Abducted Childre Vol. 18 No. 3 Adult Correctioal Services i Caada, Vol. 18 No. 4 The Chagig Nature of Fraud i Caada Vol. 18 No. 5 Breakig ad Eterig i Caada, 1996 Vol. 18 No. 6 Crimial Victimizatio: A Iteratioal Perspective Vol. 18 No. 7 Adult Crimial Court Statistics, Vol. 18 No. 8 Vol. 18 No. 9 A Oe-Day Sapshot of Imates i Caada s Adult Correctioal Facilities Violece Committed by Stragers Statistics Caada Catalogue o XIE, Vol. 18, No