Maximizing the federal investment in criminal legal aid / : Optimisation de l'investissement fédéral dans l'aide juridique en matière criminelle

The research results were intendebde tuos ed to inform the work of the Advisory Panel in advising the Deputy Minister on the depvmeloent of a path forward to maximizing the federal investment in criminal legal aid. [...] The international literature on innovations/besatc ptirces in legal aid focused on Australia, New Zealand, England/Wales, Scotland, and the Uniteadte Ss.t Early in the study, it was determined that the fragmented nature of the provision of ll eagida in the United States made a literature review unfeasible; instead, interviews were coneddu cwtith individuals identified by an access to justice exper [...] The availability of the social workerc oisn sidered to provide the Public Defender’s Office with the supports necessary to arrange mtrenat outside of the problem-solving court setting, which requires a guilty plea. [...] This choice sw ma ade to streamline the system, as youth denied legal aid typically received court-appoin cteodunsel, which slowed down the disposition of the matter and was expensive to the system.d Tehcies ion to remove eligibility requirements for youth adds cost to the legal aid plans buto inss cidered to have reduced costs of the youth criminal justice system. [...] The employer of the court workers depeonnd sth e jurisdiction, the types of activities the court workers engage in vary, and the leveclo ollfa boration with and support of legal aid plans is not the same across the country.