Research Database

The Digital Divide: Access to digital technology for people in custody

This Australian report canvasses the level of technology available to people in Australia. Western Australia’s Inspector of Custodial Services views technology for inmates as an important component to eventual reintegration, as it provides enhanced opportunities for education and also improves people’s ability to stay in touch with friends and family. However, their review concludes that […]

The Law Foundation of Ontario Connecting Region: Final Evaluation Report

This report summarizes the findings of an evaluation commissioned by the Law Foundation of Ontario on three projects they funded to help build the capacity of community workers to support people with legal problems. The projects aimed to improve access to justice for people who do not speak English or French, or who live in […]

Trusted Help: The role of community workers as trusted intermediaries who help people with legal problems

In 2016, the Law Foundation of Ontario retained a team of access to justice researchers to look into the scope of what community workers do to help advance access to justice for their clients. The Foundation’s goal was to learn how to better support community workers doing this work.

“Better Justice” or Shambolic Justice?: Governments’ Use of Information Technology for Access to Law and Justice, and the Impact on Regional and Rural Legal Practitioners

This report canvasses whether, in an environment where governments are increasingly automating legal processes, practitioners who serve rural and remote locations can truly better serve their clients. The enquiry underlying the report received more than 330 submissions from courts, academics, community legal centres, and key legal institutions and learned about the advantages and disadvantages to […]

2017 Justice Gap Report: Measuring the Civil Legal Needs of Low-income Americans

This report is an attempt to help measure the justice gap – the difference between civil legal needs of low-income Americans and their financial ability to meet those needs in 2017. Approximately 2,000 low-income adults were surveyed. Some of the findings in the report: “In the past year, 86% of the civil legal problems reported […]

A Journey to ReconciliAction: Calls to Action Report

This report describes an Indigenous justice initiative intended to build and strengthen relationships between a community legal clinic in Hamilton and the Indigenous community. The report also contains 16 recommendations for the clinic’s practice and outreach informed by 14 Calls to Action from Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Committee. By sharing the report, the clinic aims […]

Accessible written information resources for adults with intellectual disability: compiling the evidence to inform good practice

This Australian report discusses the need to make written information sources more acceptable for adults with intellectual disabilities. The report discusses research being conducted by three Australian universities to investigate what constitutes truly accessible written information, and how such resources might be produced. The preliminary project report outlines: “1. The issues that need to be […]

Alaska’s justice ecosystem: Building a partnership of providers

This report, prepared by a self-represented litigants’ network in Alaska, outlines a “story map” of Alaska’s civil justice ecosystem. It is written in the context that we know that civil legal issues rarely arise in isolation, but are often affected and complicated by medical and mental health challenges, domestic violence, homelessness, and poverty. The report […]

Canadian Access to Justice Initiatives: Justice Development Goals Status Report

This report follows up on the status of nine justice development goals set out in a previous report of the National Action Committee on Access to Justice. Researchers developed and distributed a comprehensive online survey for justice sector and community organizations to find out what they were doing. 185 organizations responded to the survey from […]

Capturing Technological Innovation in Legal Services

This report canvasses technological advances and innovations increasingly used by lawyers and other justice sector professionals in the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions. Some of the solutions canvassed include: online dispute resolution services “smart forms” to fill in for court proceedings mobile advice apps mobile apps that put people in touch with people and services […]