“There's still a great deal of uncertainty. The court’s very concerned about the potential for dramatic increase in unrepresented litigants before the court, and really that's where we came up with this idea,” says Battista, who chairs a group focused on assistance to unrepresented litigants and is an LSO-certified specialist in immigration law and in refugee protection.
“The bulk of the work of the federal court is immigration and refugee matters across the country — that’s where, I'm hearing from registry officers, the court sees the bulk of unrepresented litigants.”
The Toronto-based pilot uses a flexible income eligibility scale adapted from a system used by Pro Bono Ontario, says Battista. The pilot originally aimed to open 10 files in the six-month period, but has already opened four in the past two weeks...
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"Federal court piloting pro-bono services for self-reps in immigration and refugee matters" - www.canadianlawyermag.com By Anita Balakrishnan 20 Nov 2019
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