Bill 181 2002

An Act to amend the
Legal Aid Services Act, 1998

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

1. Subsection 14 (1) of the Legal Aid Services Act, 1998 is amended by,

(a) adding after "disadvantaged communities" in the portion before clause (a) "the need to achieve an effective balance among the different methods of providing legal aid services"; and

(b) adding the following clause:

(a.1) entering into agreements with lawyers, groups of lawyers or law firms under which the lawyer, group or law firm provides legal aid services;

Commencement

2. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

3. The short title of this Act is the Legal Aid Services Amendment Act, 2002.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Explanatory Note was written as a reader's aid to Bill 181 and does not form part of the law. Bill 181 has been enacted as Chapter 19 of the Statutes of Ontario, 2002.

The Legal Aid Services Act, 1998 is amended as follows:

1. The Act currently provides that Legal Aid Ontario shall provide legal aid services by any method that it considers appropriate, having regard to "the needs of low-income individuals and of disadvantaged communities, the costs of providing such services and [Legal Aid Ontario's] financial resources". To this list of matters to which Legal Aid Ontario is to have regard, the Bill adds "the need to achieve an effective balance among the different methods of providing legal aid services" (subsection 14 (1)).

2. Contracting out is added to the range of methods by which Legal Aid Ontario is authorized to provide legal aid services (clause 14 (1) (a.1)).

Bill 181 2002

An Act to amend the
Legal Aid Services Act, 1998

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

1. Subsection 14 (1) of the Legal Aid Services Act, 1998 is amended by,

(a) adding after "disadvantaged communities" in the portion before clause (a) "the need to achieve an effective balance among the different methods of providing legal aid services"; and

(b) adding the following clause:

(a.1) entering into agreements with lawyers, groups of lawyers or law firms under which the lawyer, group or law firm provides legal aid services;

Commencement

3. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

4. The short title of this Act is the Legal Aid Services Amendment Act, 2002.

This reprint of the Bill is marked to indicate the changes that were made in Committee.

Marginal side bars in the outer margin indicate that either a provision has been replaced, a new provision has been added or that there has been a change within a provision in either or both the English and French version of the bill. The changes are indicated by underlines for new text and a strikethrough for deleted text.

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EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Legal Aid Services Act, 1998 is amended as follows:

0.1 The Act currently provides that Legal Aid Ontario shall provide legal aid services by any method that it considers appropriate, having regard to "the needs of low-income individuals and of disadvantaged communities, the costs of providing such services and [Legal Aid Ontario's] financial resources". To this list of matters to which Legal Aid Ontario is to have regard, the Bill adds "the need to achieve an effective balance among the different methods of providing legal aid services" (subsection 14 (1)).

1. Contracting out is added to the range of methods by which Legal Aid Ontario is authorized to provide legal aid services (clause 14 (1) (a.1)).

Bill 181 2002

An Act to amend the
Legal Aid Services Act, 1998

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

1. Subsection 14 (1) of the Legal Aid Services Act, 1998 is amended by,

(a) striking out "Subject to subsections (2) and (3)" at the beginning and substituting "Subject to subsections (2) and (3) and to any regulation made under subsection 97 (2.1)"; and

(b) adding the following clause:

(a.1) entering into agreements with lawyers, groups of lawyers or law firms under which the lawyer, group or law firm provides legal aid services;

2. Section 97 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsections:

Same

(2.1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations governing the Corporation's methods of providing legal aid services, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing,

(a) requiring the Corporation to employ specified numbers of lawyers and specified numbers of other persons in specified parts of Ontario;

(b) specifying the duties of the lawyers and other persons employed in accordance with clause (a);

(c) requiring the Corporation to develop a plan to create and administer agreements under clause 14 (1) (a.1) and to report to the Attorney General on the development and implementation of the plan;

(d) specifying terms and conditions to be included in agreements under clause 14 (1) (a.1);

(e) providing that the functions of family law duty counsel include, on and after a specified date, performing specified family law services that could be performed under a certificate;

(f) providing that the functions of criminal law duty counsel include, on and after a specified date, performing specified criminal law services that could be performed under a certificate;

(g) governing the Corporation's allocation of resources among methods of providing legal aid services;

(h) specifying the date or dates by which the Corporation is to meet requirements under clauses (a), (c) and (g).

Conflict

(2.2) In case of conflict between a regulation made under subsection (2.1) and a regulation made under subsection (1), the regulation made under subsection (2.1) prevails.

Commencement

3. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

4. The short title of this Act is the Legal Aid Services Amendment Act, 2002.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Legal Aid Services Act, 1998 is amended as follows:

1. Contracting out is added to the range of methods by which Legal Aid Ontario is authorized to provide legal aid services (clause 14 (1) (a.1)).

2. The Lieutenant Governor in Council is authorized to make regulations governing Legal Aid Ontario's methods of providing legal aid services, including requiring Legal Aid Ontario to hire staff or to develop and report on plans for contracting out legal aid services, expanding the functions of family and criminal law duty counsel and governing Legal Aid Ontario's allocation of resources among methods of providing legal aid services (subsections 97 (2.1) and (2.2)).