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Task team recommends more accessibility to legal services

Aug 15, 2018 | 2:00 PM

The province and the legal body that regulates lawyers in Saskatchewan are reviewing a list of recommendations aimed at possibly expanding the role of non-lawyers in Saskatchewan and reducing barriers to legal services for the public.  

A joint task team looking at ways to improve access to legal services in the province has come up with several recommendations, including expanding the list of people who can provide basic legal services, such as when it comes to filling out legal forms, or for simple wills and cases involving power of attorney. The joint task team was made up of representatives from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice and the Law Society of Saskatchewan and looked at barriers to legal services, including high costs and a lack of access to legal services in remote communities or in a person’s own language or culture.

Gerald Tegart, who co-chaired the task team, said the overall goal of the study was to look at ways to make the legal system more flexible and accessible to the public. He said the recommendations look at how people who aren’t trained as lawyers can assist on more basic legal matters.

Currently in Saskatchewan, only lawyers who are members of the law society, or law students, can give legal advice and provide services.

“We need to do a bit of restructuring, we’re recommending that the legislation be modernized to create, for one thing, greater flexibility to address changing needs,” Tegart told paNOW.

“We’re talking about things that are more straight forward, and repetitive … so this isn’t something that’s going to happen tomorrow, or even this fall, but the process can begin as soon as the law society and the government decide whether or not they want to proceed.”

The study included significant consultations with the public, lawyers and service agencies. The report also shows that overall, fewer lawyers are practicing in rural communities, with statistics showing that in rural areas, Saskatchewan has one lawyer for every 5,559 residents.

 

Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt