Pro Bono News

New one-stop access to legal information

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

  • Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General
  • Source: PBLO (decommissioned) > Pro Bono Law Ontario

McGuinty Government Launches "Justice Ontario" Website And Hotline

A new one-stop entry point will help Ontarians find answers about their justice system.


Justice Ontario (http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/justice-ont/default.asp) provides:

- An online door to the justice system including easy-to-use information on family law, criminal law, lawsuits and disputes, human rights, estate planning and tickets and fines

- Easy access to legal resources such as lawyer referral services and family law information centres

- Toll-free telephone access to the same information in 173 languages at 1-866-252-0104.

Improving access to justice for all Ontarians begins with better, easy-to-use legal information, a point made by lawyers, the judiciary, legal organizations, the 2007 Osborne Civil Justice Report and the 2008 Trebilcock Legal Aid Review. It will also support a more effective use of legal resources.


A Justice Ontario Access Partnership (http://tinyurl.com/687l3y) of groups with expertise in all areas of the justice system has also been created to continually improve the website's content and to link the site to "next step" expertise.

QUOTES

"Ontarians now have a place to start when they need basic legal information about our justice system," said Attorney General Chris Bentley. "Justice Ontario is the one-stop destination that puts answers to your basic questions about the legal system just a click or a phone call away."


"Justice Ontario recognizes the multicultural reality of Ontario by making legal information accessible in the many languages spoken in our homes," said Laura Albanese, MPP York South - Weston.


QUICK FACTS

- Starting today, the McGuinty government is bringing the same, easy to use approach to the legal system that has helped Ontarians access government services with ServiceOntario (http://www.serviceontario.ca/), and employment and training with Employment Ontario (http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/tcu/etlanding.html).
- Ontario is also improving access to justice by reforming the civil justice system to make it faster and less expensive, while the Justice on Target (http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/jot/) strategy is helping to reduce delays in the criminal court system.

LEARN MORE

Learn more about the Civil Justice Reform Project (http://www.civiljusticereform.jus.gov.on.ca/english/default.asp). Read the report of the Legal Aid Review 2008 (http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/about/pubs/trebilcock/).


Learn more about Legal Aid Ontario
(http://www.legalaid.on.ca/en/default.asp).


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BACKGROUNDER
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JUSTICE ONTARIO ACCESS PARTNERSHIP

Justice Ontario
(http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/justice-ont/default.asp) is a new one-stop, easy-to-use website and telephone hotline that gives all Ontarians an entry point for accessing legal resources and basic information on the most common justice-related topics.


The Attorney General has invited groups with expertise in all areas of the justice system to form an Access Partnership to continually improve the website's content and to create a pathway for Ontarians by linking Justice Ontario to "next step" expertise.


The Justice Ontario Access Partnership includes representation from:

- Law Society of Upper Canada
- Ontario Bar Association
- Advocates' Society
- County and District Law Presidents Association
- Ontario Trial Lawyers Association
- Legal Aid Ontario
- Community Legal Education Ontario
- Pro Bono Law Ontario

The Access Partnership will work closely with the Ministry of the Attorney General to incorporate feedback from Justice Ontario users and the legal community on how the Justice Ontario website and telephone hotline can evolve to provide the most current and easy-to-understand information about Ontario's justice system.

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For further information: Sheamus Murphy, Ministry of the Attorney
General, Minister's Office, (416) 326-1785; Brendan Crawley, Ministry of the
Attorney General, Communications Branch, (416) 326-2210