Increase in access to legal aid services

Rise is thrilled to hear the news from the Province of British Columbia yesterday that there will be an increase in access to legal aid services, including opening a new multi-disciplinary family law clinic by the end of 2024, and an expansion of legal aid eligibility criteria. The Honourable Niki Sharma announced a total of $29.1million to be invested over the next 3 years, with the hope of increasing support for women experiencing family violence in the family legal system. This follows 7 years of tireless work by West Coast LEAF and the Centre for Family Equity (formerly the Single Mothers Alliance), and rests on the bravery of an incredible group of mothers, who stood up and fought for women across the province, and for access to justice. We would like to show our deepest appreciation to the organisations and the individuals who made this possible, and celebrate this incredible win for them, our clients, and all women in British Columbia.

For our clients who wish to know how this may effect them, or their legal case, we have written a letter, explaining that we will continue to keep them updated as new details are released.

This is a great first step in undoing the harms of cuts to legal aid, beginning in 2002, which have had a disproportionate impact on women. Beginning in 2002, legal aid’s budget was cut by almost 40% over 3 years, with cuts primarily targeting family and poverty law, with family law receiving a 60% cut in funding. This 25% increase for family law is an important step forward to address the devastating lack of coverage under the current legal aid system. We look forward to receiving more details about the changes to legal aid eligibility and coverage, and the new legal clinics, in the coming months as this rolls out.

For those who lack knowledge of the family law system, or of legal aid, it can be hard to understand exactly what this means for women experiencing violence, so we are going to break down for you the history of legal aid cuts, the current need in the province, and how this new funding will help women experiencing violence, and what it’s limits are, in this document.

Congratulations to all of our clients, our friends at West Coast LEAF and the Centre for Family Equity, and the individuals, the lawyers, and everyone who made this possible. We are truly thrilled!