Defence lawyers to refuse serious crime files over Legal Aid Alberta funding
CBC
Alberta's four major defence lawyer associations say they will be refusing serious files for legal aid starting Sept.1, until the province improves funding.
Serious crime files include all homicides, sexual offences, firearms offences, and dangerous offender proceedings.
The move comes after the associations — the Criminal Defence Lawyers' Association, the Criminal Trial Lawyers' Association, the Southern Alberta Defence Lawyers' Association and the Red Deer Criminal Defence Lawyers' Association — called for increased legal aid funding and expanded eligibility so more people can access legal aid.
Legal Aid Alberta (LAA) is a non-profit organization that provides legal services to Albertans in family, domestic violence, child welfare, immigration and criminal defence cases.
Danielle Boisvert, president of the Criminal Trial Lawyers' Association, said defence lawyers have become disincentivized from taking on such cases.
"[Lawyers] feel that they're being undervalued, when they could go to the province next door and make significantly more for the same type of work. It causes a brain drain out of Alberta," Boisvert said in an interview Thursday.
Roster counsel earn a base rate of $92.40 per hour in Alberta, while those in British Columbia and Ontario earn $113.39 and $109.14, respectively. Roster lawyers have their own practice and/or work for a private law firm.
The rate discrepancies increase for lawyers in higher compensation tiers.
Boisvert also explained the issue has created a discrepancy in equity between the Crown and defence.
"We lose people to the Crown prosecutor's office and it creates an imbalance in experience and knowledge between the two adversarial parties," she said.
"If you have a Crown office full of senior experienced counsel, and defence roster lawyers who are all very junior, it's not an equal playing field and that has an impact on justice directly."
Justice Minister Tyler Shandro said in a written statement that Legal Aid Alberta has sufficient funding to meet demand for their services.
"There have not been any instances of eligible Albertans not accessing services due to insufficient funding," the statement read.
Shandro added that increases to the legal aid tariff have to be done as part of the fall budget submission.
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