Access to Justice and Dispute Resolution Skills

Access to justice is a pressing issue in Canada. Currently there is a trend within the justice system to decrease both court delays and costs in order to increase access to justice. Dispute resolution, when used effectively, has these benefits while also benefiting a less-discussed area of access to justice: relationships. This chapter critically examines the positive impact that alternative dispute resolution (ADR) has on access to justice within Canada. ADR increases access to justice by decreasing both the cost and time it takes to resolve disputes. Education regarding ADR expands access to justice by both increasing the public’s knowledge and increasing lawyers’ effectiveness at using ADR. Most significantly, ADR improves relationships between the parties involved in the dispute and within the communities in which ADR is utilized. If strategies such as diversity-based practice and lawyer competencies are integrated into ADR, there is significant capacity to improve relationships between the legal profession and marginalized communities. This chapter aims to encourage the use of ADR in Canada and to demonstrate how marginalized communities can be better served through the use of ADR.