The Second Annual Saskatchewan Access to Justice Week is October 16-21, 2017, with special events happening throughout the week (see below).

The establishment of the Saskatchewan Access to Justice Week is a spinoff of the “Putting the Public First” topic that was addressed by participants at the 2016 meeting of the Dean’s Forum on Access to Justice and Dispute Resolution (the Dean’s Forum)  – participants at that meeting identified, “a provincial strategy must embrace multiple vehicles and approaches to engagement to ensure that different communities within the public, each who face diverse access to justice barriers are both engaged and meaningfully heard” (at 5).

The Saskatchewan Access to Justice Week is one vehicle and approach to engage different communities in the access to justice conversation.

The week will provide opportunities to:

• Engage new and diverse voices in the access to justice conversation; and
• Highlight initiatives that aim to improve access to justice for Saskatchewan residents. 

Several events during the Second Annual Saskatchewan Access to Justice Week build off of the themes from the 2017 meeting of the Dean’s Forum:

• Legal Information, Legal Advice, and Access to Justice; and
• Expanding Engagement: Creating Connections Between Delivery of Justice and Health Services.

We invite you to get involved in the events, and join the conversation!

We want to hear from you! Share your access to justice ideas, work, announcements, photos, reports on social media using the hashtag #SKA2J2017.

To view full coverage of the Second Annual Saskatchewan Access to Justice Week, follow the Law Society of Saskatchewan’s Blog, Legal Sourcery at lsslib.wordpress.com/category/access-to-justice. For a summary of highlights from the First Annual Saskatchewan Access to Justice Week (October 18-25, 2016), click here.

Like, follow and share on social media:
@CREATE_Justice | @UsaskLaw
@CREATEJustice | @UsaskLaw

For media.

Pop-up presentation

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Exploring Its Potential for Improving Access to Justice - reflections and advice from Professor Archie Kaiser.

This presentation may be helpful for lawyers, judges, mental health professionals and advocates. Kaiser will explore the current lived reality of persons with mental health problems and/or intellectual disabilities, and present an overview of the CRPD and its basic provisions: why the Convention is significant and how it can be used as an advocacy tool.

Seating is limited an is on a first-come, first-served basis.

• Time: 12 noon to 1pm
• Location: Room 254, College of Law

Town Hall on the Future of Legal Services Provision in Saskatchewan

Supported by the Law Society of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice, the Legal Services Task Team has been appointed to explore whether non-lawyers should be permitted to provide some legal services to Saskatchewan residents. This Town Hall is part of the extensive consultation the Task Team is undertaking in the fall of 2017.

• Time: 2:30 - 4:30 pm
• Location: Rusty MacDonald Branch, 225 Primrose Drive, Saskatoon
• Target Audience: Members of the public and key organizational stakeholders
• Contributors: Law Society of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice, the Legal Services Task Team

• Download Saskatoon Town Hall poster

“Spin for Access to Justice” Fundraiser – Registration required

“Spin” to support access to justice. A fundraiser spin class will be held at Ryde YXE in support of CLASSIC, a Saskatoon community law clinic.  All proceeds go directly to CLASSIC.* Participants will be entered into a draw to win some CLASSIC ‘swag’.

• Time: 8:15 - 9:05 pm
• Location: Ryde YXE, 705 Broadway Ave, Saskatoon
• Target Audience: Anyone over age 15 years.  No spin experience required!
• Cost: By donation
• Registration Details: Space is limited to 36 so register early!  To register, send an email to Sarah Buhler at  sarah.buhler@usask.ca.  Sarah will send you all the further details you will need to participate.

* CLASSIC will also be hosting a Community Give-Back Flash Mob throughout the week for CLASSIC clients - those people in Saskatoon who do not have access to justice much of the time. For more information and to donate, please visit classiclaw.ca.

• More information

A Spotlight on Access to Justice Champions: A Volunteer Appreciation Event 

Pro Bono Students Canada is inviting volunteers - past, present, and future - to drop by the College of Law for donuts, coffee, and conversation around access to justice. The ongoing contributions of our dedicated student volunteers and supervising lawyers to the PBSC program and access to justice in our community is appreciated.

• Time:  1:00 - 2:30 pm
• Location:  Students’ Lounge, College of Law, University of Saskatchewan
• Target Audience:  Pro Bono lawyer and law student volunteers
• Contributors: Pro Bono Students Canada - University of Saskatchewan Chapter 

Town Hall on the Future of Legal Services Provision in Saskatchewan

Supported by the Law Society of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice, the Legal Services Task Team has been appointed to explore whether non-lawyers should be permitted to provide some legal services to Saskatchewan residents. This Town Hall is part of the extensive consultation the Task Team is undertaking in the fall of 2017.

• Time: 2:30 - 4:30 pm
• Location: George Bothwell Branch, 2965 Gordon Road, Regina
• Target Audience: Members of the public and key organizational stakeholders
• Contributors: Law Society of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice, the Legal Services Task Team

• Download Regina Town Hall poster

Lecture on Expanding Engagement: Creating Connections Between Delivery of Justice and Health Services – Registration required

• Time: 12 noon - 1:00 pm
• Location: MLT AIKINS Lecture Theatre (Room 150), College of Law
• Target Audience: Faculty, practitioners**, students, and administrators from justice and health-related disciplines ** This lecture qualifies for 1 CPD hour for lawyers.
• Registration Details: Space is limited so register early!  To register, send an email to Brea Lowenberger at createjustice@usask.ca. 
• Contributor: CREATE Justice (the Centre for Research, Evaluation and Action Towards Equal Justice), College of Law
• Event Sponsor: Office of the Vice-President Research Visiting Lecturer Fund at the University of Saskatchewan

• Download lecture poster

Free Legal Resource Fair

• Time: 4:30 - 8:00 pm
• Location: Frances Morrison Central Library – Main Level
• Target Audience: Members of the public and public library staff
• Contributors: Various justice stakeholders and Frances Morrison Central Library 

McKercher Lecture Series: How can your library help you access legal information?
Janet Freeman, the original coordinator of the LawMatters at Your Local Public Library Program with Courthouse Libraries in British Columbia, will talk about how libraries can fill a much needed gap in accessibility to legal information.  Legal education resources and other tools exist at the library, to help the public understand legal information. Learn about how tools developed with and for the public library can help the public access the law. The presentation will allow time for questions. 

• Time: 7:00 - 8:00 pm
• Location: Frances Morrison Central Library – Theatre
• Target Audience: Members of the public, public library staff, and lawyers (this lecture qualifies for 1CPD hour for lawyers).
• Contributors: Partners of the Saskatchewan Access to Legal Information Project and Frances Morrison Central Library
• Event Sponsor: McKercher Lecture Series at the College of Law

Walk-in Family Law Information Clinic
A free legal information clinic will be hosted by the Ministry of Justice, Pro Bono Saskatchewan volunteer lawyers, Pro Bono Students Canada, and the Public Legal Education Association (PLEA).  The clinic will provide an opportunity for individuals with family law issues to meet with a volunteer lawyer and/or law student for up to 30 minutes to ask questions about family law relevant to their situation.

• Time: 6:30 - 8:30 pm
• Location: Frances Morrison Central Library – Lower Level
• Target Audience: Members of the public
• Contributors: Ministry of Justice, Pro Bono Saskatchewan volunteer lawyers, Pro Bono Students Canada, and PLEA

Law Student Small Urban and Rural Law Firm Trip

Registration required.

The College of Law Career Office and law students’ “Small Urban and Rural Initiatives Committee” (SURC) organize a trip for a group of students to visit a community outside of Saskatoon. It is referred to as the Small Urban and Rural Initiative. The objective is to assist students to learn about what it is like to practice law in a community outside of the major centres and let them know about the numerous opportunities that exist.  As well, the students will gain information about a number of factors including the lifestyle of the lawyers, the main areas of law that lawyers practise and general information about the community. Students get to meet a number of lawyers and community representatives and learn about practising law in general in a small urban or rural centre.

• Time:  Preregistration required for law student tour
• Location: Travelling to Melfort, Nipawin, Tisdale
• Target Audience:  Law students and small urban and rural lawyers
• Contributors:  Small Urban and Rural Initiatives Committee, College of Law Career Office
• Event Sponsor: Canadian Bar Association Saskatchewan Chapter

• More information

Online livestream panel session 1 (Oct 20)

Registration required.

The Saskatchewan Access to Legal Information Conference, “The Role of Legal Information Providers and Public Libraries in Promoting Access to Justice” will bring together legal scholars, library science scholars, legal information providers, and public library representatives from urban, rural, and remote areas of Saskatchewan to discuss the role of libraries in improving access to legal information. The conference will be oriented towards developing actionable strategies for making legal information more accessible through public libraries.

• Time: 1:00 – 4:45 pm (Panel 1 – Welcome, Introductions, and Opening Remarks; Panel 2 – Reflections on SALI Project Data Collection Tool and Expanding Its Reach)
• Location: Online livestream (or in-person, by invitation)
• Target Audience: Library staff and justice stakeholders
• Registration Information: We are pleased to invite interested library and justice stakeholders from across Saskatchewan to participate in the conference via a livestream video. Please RSVP as soon as possible by contacting Katie Riley by email (katie.riley@usask.ca). Katie will add your information to the livestream registration list. The link to the livestream will be sent to all those registered on October 19.
• Contributors: Saskatchewan Access to Legal Information Project Partners (College of Law, PLEA, Law Society of Saskatchewan Library, Frances Morrison Central Library, and University Library, U of S)
• Event Sponsors: College of Law; Conference Fund, U of S; Canadian Bar Association Saskatchewan Chapter; University Library, U of S; Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice; Law Society of Saskatchewan; Saskatchewan Library Association; McKercher LLP.

Keynote Public Lecture

Legal Information, Legal Advice, and Access to Justice – The Distinction as it is Understood in the United States

• Time: 7:00 - 8:00 pm
• Location: MLT AIKINS Lecture Theatre (Room 150), College of Law, University of Saskatchewan and online livestream
• Target Audience: Members of the public, public library staff, and lawyers (this lecture qualifies for 1 CPD hour for lawyers).
• Contributors: Saskatchewan Access to Legal Information Project Partners (College of Law, PLEA, Law Society of Saskatchewan Library, Frances Morrison Central Library, and University Library, U of S.
• Event Sponsors: College of Law; Conference Fund, U of S; Canadian Bar Association Saskatchewan Chapter; University Library, U of S; Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice; Law Society of Saskatchewan; Saskatchewan Library Association; McKercher LLP.

Online livestream panel session 2 (Oct 21)