Access to justice services agreements evaluation : Ententes de service relatives à l'accès à la justice evaluation : rapport final

As the current evaluation focussed on the consolidated funding arrangements of the AJA and not a program review, site visits were limited to the territorial capitals, the site of the territorial government offices; however, stakeholder feedback throughout the interview process informed the evaluation as to the unique circumstances in the North that must be accounted for when examining the relevanc [...] As pointed out by AJA stakeholders, the federal government has demonstrated its commitment to the North by establishing consolidated agreements which allow for a flexible approach to be taken in the territories in the delivery of legal aid and ACW and PLEI services that recognizes not only the differences between the territories and the provinces, but also the contexts and circumstances that are u [...] All respondents emphasized the importance of such a program in bridging the gap between the Aboriginal accused and the justice system, highlighting that especially in smaller territorial communities, courtworkers are the primary connection to the justice system and represent the “face of justice” for accused. [...] Stakeholders note that the role of the courtworker is crucial to the effective functioning of the justice system, for instance in ensuring that the accused appears in court on the right day at the right time. [...] The Nunavut LSB is currently looking to hire someone to serve as the Courtworker Coordinator to put more focus on resolving the issues there, while in the Yukon, the change of management of the ACW Program component to the Community Justice Branch has resulted in a clearer focus and refreshed vision of how to improve the ACW services in that territory.