Access to Justice Week 2023
LCO Webinar: Recommendations, innovations, and law reform to address the intimate partner violence epidemic
The Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) invites you to a free one-hour webinar addressing intimate partner violence and law reform in Ontario. This is the first of two LCO webinars during Access to Justice Week 2023. Titled 'Recommendations, innovations, and law reform to address the intimate partner violence epidemic,' the session will consider reforms to Ontario's justice system to improve legal protections and services for survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). The topic is a long-standing and urgent access to justice issue in Ontario and across Canada. The inadequacy of the justice system’s response to IPV and other gender-based violence has been criticized for many years, culminating earlier this year in calls for provincial and federal governments to declare and address the IPV epidemic. Recent inquests, inquiries, and legislative efforts following mass casualties and femicides have highlighted the need for – and complexity of – justice system reforms. The session will bring together experts to discuss potential IPV reforms, legal issues, practical challenges, and best practices. Audience members will learn about:
The scope and scale of IPV;
The legal needs and access to justice challenges for survivors of IPV;
The strengths and weaknesses of current laws and practices;
Recommendations from recent inquests and inquiries (the Culleton, Kuzyk, and Warmerdam Inquest in Renfrew County, Ontario, and the Mass Casualty Commission in Nova Scotia); and
Potential reforms to Ontario’s protection order regime.
This session will be interesting to many stakeholders, including individuals and organizations concerned with IPV and gender-based violence; family justice; criminal justice; access to justice for low-income, racialized, and rural/remote communities; courts; and justice policy-makers.
Speakers include:
CPD accreditation pending.
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