Why Don’t We Have Appropriate Access to Justice?

Watch the podcast here.

Panel: Jennifer Muller, former self-represented litigant; Dan Baxter, Director of Policy Development, Government & Stakeholder Relations for the BC Chamber of Commerce

What stands in the way of adequate access to justice? The Hon. Thomas Cromwell, recently retired from the Supreme Court of Canada and chair of the Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters will share his thoughts on why we still do not have appropriate access to justice in civil and family matters and provide a brief update on some promising initiatives.

The Honourable Thomas Cromwell received law degrees from Queen’s and Oxford, practised law in Kingston and Toronto and taught at the faculty of law, Dalhousie University. During his time at Dalhousie, he was active as a labour arbitrator and served as Vice-chair of the Nova Scotia Labour Relations Board. He served as Executive Legal Officer to the Chief Justice Canada from 1992 – 1995 and was appointed to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal in 1997. He served there until his appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada in 2008. Justice Cromwell was awarded the C.B.A.’s Louis St. Laurent Award of Excellence and was elected an honorary fellow of Exeter College, Oxford and of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is the recipient of four honorary doctorates in law and an award in his name, The Honourable Thomas Cromwell Award for Public Service, has been established by the Queen’s law faculty. He is the chair of the National Action Committee on Access to Justice in Civil and Family Matters and a member of the Canadian Judicial Council’s Working Committee on Jury Charges. He retired from the Supreme Court of Canada on September 1st, 2016.