Access to justice is essential for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Without adequate access to quality justice systems, anyone can be exploited, intimidated, threatened and abused. Lengthy delays in the justice system have both private and public consequences including; costly prison overcrowding, family financial hardship, and the erosion of trust in the justice system. In every community, equal access to justice has wide-ranging implications from the protection of property to freedom from violence.

Demand for justice services remains high and governments are under increasing pressure to meet demand with limited resources. Unfortunately not enough is known about public experiences and barriers to accessing justice, especially in regards to remote communities and marginalized groups. Appropriate solutions to access to justice problems require a textured understanding of local legal needs and of community experiences.

ICCLR is working to produce and analyze the needed information about access to justice gaps in Canada. Our approach includes comprehensive and coordinated efforts that incorporate input from multiple sectors, actors and stakeholders. Through our recent projects ICCLR Associates have developed frameworks for measuring and assessing the status of access to justice. Thanks to the development of these improved measurement frameworks ICCLR is now able to begin the work of assisting governments to understand and eliminate access to justice gaps.