LL.B. (Toronto); LL.M. (Yale); Faculty of Law, University of Calgary. 1. I would like to extend particular thanks to Dalhousie Law School for inviting me to present this paper as the Wickwire Lecture in legal ethics, to Mike Bolitho for his research support, and to Sara Bagg for her long conversations about virtue ethics and the character requirement. In addition, I would like to acknowledge the last four years of legal ethics classes at the University of Calgary whose lively engagement with the question of whether character is the source of ethical behaviour significantly expanded my own thinking on this question. Any errors are, of course, my own. Virtue ethicsthe relevance of character Social psychologythe relevance of circumstances Reasserting character 3. The definition of good character, the standards used to assess character, and the application of those standards in particular cases 4. Conclusion IV. Fixing the good character requirement Conclusion 7. The most important American article on the good character requirement is the seminal piece by Deborah L. Rhode, "Moral Character as a Professional Credential" (1985) 94 Yale L.J. 491. The debt which I owe Professor Rhode's work is enormous, despite the difference in the conclusion which I reach with respect to the good character requirement. 8. MacKenzie, supra note 4 at 23-3. 97. MacKenzie, supra note 4 at 23-12. 98. Rhode, supra note 7 at 496.
Access to justice is an integral component of the legal system. However, the question of upon whose shoulders the obligation of ensuring this access should fall has been widely debated. In particular, do lawyers, as part ofthe legalprofession, have a special obligation to foster access to justice? In this article, the author explores the legitimacy of various arguments with respect to whether lawyers should carry this obligation to a greater extent than other members of society. The author begins by critiquing the traditional arguments related to imposing such an obligation on lawyers — for instance, the refined monopoly arguments. She then goes on to critically consider an alternative argument: that imperfections in the marketfor legal services justify the existence of a special obligation for lawyers. An examination of the limitations of this justification follows. Overall, the author concludes that while the arguments arising from imperfections in the legal market offer the best justification for seeing lawyers have a special obligation to ensure access tojustice, the claims from the argument are modest ones, and any policy response in furtherance of such an obligation should be similarly modest.
This article critiques the failure to adopt and enforce procedural norms in Canadian public policy making and suggests that the failure of legislatures and courts to require appropriate procedure prior to the elaboration and implementation of regulatory policy undermines the democratic and substantive legitimacy of that policy. It supports this position through analysis of current approaches to policy making in Canada and the United States, through application of theories of deliberative democracy to policy making and, ultimately, through consideration of what appropriate procedures for policy making should look like.
Most informed observers of the Canadian and American legal systems accept the existence of a significant crisis in access to justice. Evidence shows growing numbers of self-represented litigants, inadequate support for legal aid, far more reported legal issues than there is access to affordable legal assistance, and costly legal services and legal processes out of reach of most middle- and low-income citizens. Bridging this “justice gap” has become the focus of modern access to justice reform efforts.
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