Colloquium Report of the Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters

The Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters is a broad-based committee established by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada Beverley McLachlin.

It is chaired by Supreme Court of Canada Justice Thomas Cromwell. Members of the committee include the Canadian Bar Association, Justice Canada, and the Canadian Judicial Council. It works to identify ways to reduce barriers to access to the civil justice system.

After releasing its final report in October 2013, the Committee decided to organize a colloquium in January 2014 to work on practical steps to improve the situation.

The Colloquium Report is now available online:

"Following the release of the Action Committee’s final report, Access to Civil & Family Justice: A Roadmap for Change (Final Report), a series of locally organized access to justice events were held across Canada to introduce the Final Report to local stakeholders and justice leaders, encourage action-oriented responses for reform, and provide focus and encouragement for local access to justice initiatives. Held primarily throughout the Fall of 2013, these local events culminated in the national Action Committee Colloquium, which took place on January 27-28, 2014 in Toronto. The purpose of the colloquium was to bring together leaders in the field of access to justice from across Canada to share “best practices”, showcase examples of successful and innovative programs and reforms, discuss common challenges, and begin developing action-oriented access to justice initiatives. Over the course of two days, delegates worked together in plenary and small breakout sessions to workshop strategies for reaching the goals laid out in the Final Report."

"This report on the Colloquium provides an overview of the Colloquium discussions and a summary of the key messages of those who participated in the two-day event. It attempts to capture the comments, suggestions and major points of dialogue. In addition to providing an overview and summary of the major discussion threads, it also highlights examples provided by participants of initiatives, programs and innovations that are currently working in various jurisdictions."

"Our hope is that the ideas and collaborations born at this Colloquium and recorded in this report will serve as the first of many future collaborations and projects that bring together justice stakeholders at all levels, from across multiple jurisdictions, to move forward a Canada-wide discussion on innovation and action in access to justice."