The un-named Surrey woman was originally denied legal aid to fight ex-husband’s plan to take their children to India.
SURREY – A Surrey Indo-Canadian woman fighting her ex-husband’s vacation plans to take their children to India has won a legal precedent of getting legal aid for her legal fight.
In the wake of the B.C. Supreme Court challenge, the province’s Legal Services Society was forced to reverse a decision to deny legal aid to the un-named woman who wants to fight her ex-husband’s plans to take their children to India, reported CBC News.
The about-face comes as the Trial Lawyers’ Association of B.C. says it is preparing to challenge the province next year in court over problems resulting from what the legal community claims is chronic under-funding of the legal aid system.
Meanwhile, the association says it expects more cases like that of P.G., the woman who filed a petition asking for a judicial review of a decision denying her application for legal aid.
P.G. fears her ex-husband won’t return from India if allowed to take their two children on vacation, but she says she lacks the English skills to navigate the court system.
“This is affecting thousands of people and it basically has resulted in a lack of access to justice which is not really tolerable in our society,” says Chris Johnson, a co-chair with the trial lawyers association.
“It creates an imbalance over and over again where one party is able to essentially crush the other party who doesn’t have a lawyer.”
P.G. filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court this week with the help of the B.C. Public Interest Advocacy Centre. She claims her ex-husband is manipulative and emotionally abusive and she needs legal representation “to ensure my voice and concerns for my children are heard.”
Mark Benton, CEO of the Legal Services Society, says a decision was made to give P.G. legal aid after reviewing the material she presented in court.
“They assessed it based on that imminence of risk and the background and felt that it met the current criteria,” he says.
In a growing protest movement, trial lawyers are refusing to schedule legal aid matters in the first week of each month. The withdrawal now includes Vancouver, North Vancouver, Richmond, Surrey, Victoria and Kamloops. Johnson says he expects the protest to expand to Abbotsford and Chilliwack shortly.
The province is providing the Legal Services Society $74.5 million in 2014-15, including a $2 million annual increase over three years to fund expansion of legal aid in family and criminal law.
Last week, Justice Minister Suzanne Anton announced a new legal aid project to provide mediation to families hoping to resolve conflicts of property, debt, spousal support or child-related issues without going to court.
Courtesy CBC News
