NCJ Number
81490
Date Published
1980
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This first annual report of the British Columbia Legal Services Society covers the society's activities from its inception on October 1, 1979, to April 30, 1980.
Abstract
The Legal Services Society was formed from an amalgamation of the Legal Services Commission and the Legal Aid Society. This was accomplished by the Legal Services Society Act. The goals of the Society as set forth in Section 3 of the Act are to ensure that services ordinarily provided by a lawyer are afforded persons who would not otherwise receive them for financial or other reasons and education, advice, and information on law are provided for the public. The union has resolved former disagreements between the former groups regarding the planning of legal services on a provincewide basis. The work of the Society is divided into two types of services: client services provided on an individual basis and education and information services provided to the general public and the public schools. The discussion of client services focuses on who is eligible, methods of providing service, special programs, new developments, and the work of other funded agencies in providing legal services. The major current planning and research project is the design of a new management information system to cover the Society's operations. The activities of the Legal Information Services Department cover school programs, training, the public legal education program, and the Library Services Program. Also described are Society programs particularly designed to assist Native people to understand and deal with legal problems. Financial data and tabular data are provided.