Vancouver, June 30, 2017 – The Law Society believes that a fairer, healthier society includes better access to legal advice and representation, and encourages the new provincial government to increase legal aid funding in the new provincial budget.
As the Law Society noted in its recently published report, A Vision for Publicly Funded Legal Aid in British Columbia, legal aid is an essential public service and governments bear the responsibility to fund it to the degree necessary to achieve its purposes. Increased funding is essential to achieving that vision.
“A fundamental principle of a just and democratic society is that people must be able to access the law and the courts,” said Second Vice-President Nancy Merrill, QC, chair of the Law Society’s Legal Aid Advisory Committee. “There are significant costs to society of not properly funding legal aid. Developing a principled, sustainable basis for funding legal aid is essential – it ensures the smooth running of the justice system, benefits children and families, and saves cost to the taxpayer in the long run.”
The Law Society of British Columbia upholds and protects the public interest in the administration of justice by ensuring the independence, integrity and competence of lawyers, establishing education and professional development standards for lawyers, regulating the practice of law and preserving and protecting the rights and freedoms of all persons.
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