News Release

New One-Stop Access To Legal Information

McGuinty Government Launches "Justice Ontario" Website And Hotline

August 27, 2008

News

A new one-stop entry point will help Ontarians find answers about their justice system.

Justice Ontario provides:

• An online door to the justice system including easy-to-use information on family law, criminal law, lawsuits and disputes, human rights, estate planning and tickets and fines
• Easy access to legal resources such as lawyer referral services and family law information centres
• Toll-free telephone access to the same information in 173 languages at 1-866-252-0104.

Improving access to justice for all Ontarians begins with better, easy-to-use legal information, a point made by lawyers, the judiciary, legal organizations, the 2007 Osborne Civil Justice Report and the 2008 Trebilcock Legal Aid Review. It will also support a more effective use of legal resources.

A Justice Ontario Access Partnership of groups with expertise in all areas of the justice system has also been created to continually improve the website's content and to link the site to "next step" expertise.

Quotes

"Ontarians now have a place to start when they need basic legal information about our justice system," said Attorney General Chris Bentley. "Justice Ontario is the one-stop destination that puts answers to your basic questions about the legal system just a click or a phone call away."

"Justice Ontario recognizes the multicultural reality of Ontario by making legal information accessible in the many languages spoken in our homes," said Laura Albanese, MPP York South - Weston.

Quick Facts

• Starting today, the McGuinty government is bringing the same, easy to use approach to the legal system that has helped Ontarians access government services with ServiceOntario, and employment and training with Employment Ontario.
• Ontario is also improving access to justice by reforming the civil justice system to make it faster and less expensive, while the Justice on Target strategy is helping to reduce delays in the criminal court system.

Learn More

Learn more about the Civil Justice Reform Project.

Read the report of the Legal Aid Review 2008.

Learn more about Legal Aid Ontario.

Contacts

Sheamus Murphy
Minister's Office, 416-326-1785

Brendan Crawley
Communications Branch, 416-326-2210

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