USask-led Access to Justice Week examines Saskatchewan family justice system
The University of Saskatchewan’s (USask) College of Law is collaborating with local and national partners to focus on data and evidence informed policy making for the seventh annual Saskatchewan Access to Justice Week, taking place Oct. 24-28 in conjunction with the third annual Canada Access to Justice Week.
“The Saskatchewan Access to Justice Week is one vehicle and approach to engage different communities in conversations,” said USask College of Law Dean, Martin Philipson. “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.”
One of this year’s highlight events is a roundtable discussion with leaders of the province’s justice sector on their use of data and design methods to foster a collaborative and co-ordinated approach to improving family justice in Saskatchewan.
“Solving complex, systemic issues like access to justice require creative and collaborative approaches that are tracked and measured,” said Brea Lowenberger, director of the Centre for Research, Evaluation, and Action Towards Equal (CREATE) Justice at the USask College of Law, and organizer of the Saskatchewan Access to Justice Week. “This week will see people uniting across Canada to focus on how data and design strategies have been, and can be, used for co-ordinated and collaborative justice system improvements and reform.”
Other events happening during the week include: a drop-in family law information and assistance clinic, and a clinic providing information and assistance on making a will hosted by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice; and a presentation by the Law Society of Saskatchewan and Law Society of Ontario in partnership with JusticeTrans, on the results of an Access-to-Justice legal needs assessment of Two-Spirit, trans, non-binary and gender nonconforming (2STNBGN) people.
Numerous other events will be occurring in Saskatchewan, online, and across the country. For more information, please see Saskatchewan Access to Justice Week. To view full coverage of the events, follow the Law Society of Saskatchewan’s Blog.