Factum of the Intervener: Charter Committee on Poverty Issues in New Brunswick (Minister of Health and Community Services) v. G. (J.) (Supreme Court of Canada)

28 Pages Posted: 1 Mar 2014 Last revised: 19 Mar 2015

See all articles by Martha Jackman

Martha Jackman

University of Ottawa - Common Law Section

Arne Peltz

Public Interest Law Centre

Date Written: 1998

Abstract

The Charter Committee on Poverty Issues (CCPI) submits that both child protection proceedings and the denial of legal aid disproportionately affect people in poverty, and marginalized women in particular. Section 7 must be read to impose an obligation on the State to ensure that disadvantaged members of society, who cannot afford counsel, receive equal access to a fair hearing in proceedings affecting their liberty and security interests. In the present case, it was fundamentally unfair to force the Appellant to defend herself in a child protection hearing. Without effective legal representation by counsel, the Appellant was denied the fair and equal treatment upon which the legitimacy of the judicial system and child protection proceedings depend. The denial of legal aid based on budgetary or administrative considerations alone cannot be justified under section 1 of the Charter. Furthermore, the categorical denial of legal aid to a poor parent in child protection cases does not minimally impair a parent's Charter right to liberty and security of the person.

Keywords: factum, intervenor, Charter, Canada, Supreme Court, section 7, life, liberty, security, custody, child, protection, participate, funded, counsel, Godin, G(J), G.(J.), hearing, legal aid, representation, procedural, legal, poverty, women, psychological, stress, emotional, State

Suggested Citation

Jackman, Martha and Peltz, Arne, Factum of the Intervener: Charter Committee on Poverty Issues in New Brunswick (Minister of Health and Community Services) v. G. (J.) (Supreme Court of Canada) (1998). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2307309 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2307309

Martha Jackman (Contact Author)

University of Ottawa - Common Law Section ( email )

57 Louis Pasteur Street
Ottawa, K1N 6N5
Canada

Arne Peltz

Public Interest Law Centre ( email )

Suite 610-294 Portage Ave
Winnipeg, MB R3C 0B8
Canada

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