Several Alberta lawyer associations are calling on the provincial government to provide more funding to Legal Aid in the province.
The defence lawyer associations said in their statement the “most minimal provisions” of legal aid in Alberta is at a breaking point. They said underfunding lawyers on the roster discourages senior, experienced lawyers from taking legal aid cases which in turn leads to fewer learning opportunities for junior attorneys.
“These short-term consequences carry long-term implications and will inevitably lead to a roster of lawyers with limited experience in criminal law,” read the release. “The quality of legal services will deteriorate, and the risk of wrongful convictions will grow. Which means more appeals, more retrials, more victims returning to court, more waste of precious court time, and more Jordan stays of serious prosecutions. You can count on it.
The associations said the province has also failed to deliver on a funding agreement agreed upon in 2018 with a $40-million funding gap in 2021-22, according to figures released by the defence lawyers. They said they had reached out to Shandro asking for a reply to their concerns by July 29 but had not received a response. They said they will meet later this week to discuss next steps.Legal Aid is a publicly-funded non-profit organization that provides Albertans with affordable legal services in family law, domestic violence, child welfare, immigration, and youth and adult criminal defense.
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