Established as a means of putting the public first in the access to justice conversation, the week will involve a range of activities and calls-to-action to bring members of the public, law students, legal professionals and members of diverse disciplines together to continue discussions around improving access to justice in Saskatchewan. The week will also offer the public an opportunity to learn about existing initiatives that aim to improve and remove barriers to access to justice for Saskatchewan residents.
The week will invite input on topics such as the future of legal services provision in Saskatchewan, and how legal information providers and public libraries can help educate the public and promote access to justice.
"Solving complex issues like access to justice requires diverse perspectives and collaborative dialogue,” said Brea Lowenberger, co-ordinator of the week as director of CREATE Justice at the U of S College of Law, and Saskatchewan’s access to justice co-ordinator. “We aim to raise the awareness and profile of the topic of access to justice, and expand our partners in Saskatchewan among the public, justice stakeholders, and members from diverse disciplines.”
One of the topics that will be explored in a lecture is creating justice and health partnerships to address intersecting legal and health problems. Partnerships are on the increase in Canada, and involve legal professionals partnering with health professionals to identify legal issues that could potentially result in health problems, and negatively impacting people’s well-being. The connections between delivery of justice and health services have an important role to play in increasing access to justice in the province, especially for those in low-income households.
Visit the Saskatchewan Access to Justice webpage to learn more about the week, and use the hashtag #SKA2J2017 to join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.
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For more information, contact:
Brea Lowenberger
Director of CREATE Justice and Access to Justice Co-ordinator
College of Law, University of Saskatchewan
306-966-8635
b.lowenberger@usask.ca