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Research
Research and practical material on access to justice, self-representation outcomes and legal workflow technology. General information — not legal advice.
This collection brings together plain-language syntheses of access-to-justice research: what the evidence shows about how people meet legal problems, what happens when they go without a lawyer, and how technology can widen access without overstepping into legal advice. Each piece distills published work from courts, researchers and access-to-justice organizations. The library spans three themes and keeps growing through editorial review and open contributions.
Researchers, clinics, practitioners and students can submit. Editorial review before publication.
35 publications
Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.001
A plain-language synthesis of what Canadian access-to-justice research tells us about how often people meet legal problems, why many never reach formal help, and where practical tools can lower the barrier.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.002
Self-representation is now common rather than exceptional. This piece reviews who self-represents, the practical hurdles documented in the research, and the kinds of structured support associated with steadier participation.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.003
Technology can lower the cost of organizing a legal matter, but only if it is designed for non-experts. We set out practical design principles for legal-workflow tools that aim to widen access without overstepping into legal advice.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.004
Behind every access-to-justice headline is a research method. This piece explains what legal needs surveys measure, what they consistently find across twenty-five years and many countries, and how to read the numbers responsibly.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.005
Legal problems rarely arrive one at a time. This piece explains how everyday legal problems cluster together and cascade from one into the next, and why catching them early matters so much.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.006
An unresolved legal problem does not stay inside the legal system; it spills into health, work and the public purse. This piece traces those wider costs and what they mean for how we offer help.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.007
A quiet shift is reshaping how justice systems think about their job: starting from people's needs instead of from institutions. This piece explains the people-centred justice movement and the framework behind it.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.008
Recognizing that a problem has a legal dimension is the first hurdle, and it is one that pamphlets alone rarely clear. This entry explains legal capability and why building people's skills and confidence matters more than simply publishing information.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.009
Most Quebecers meet the justice system at small claims or the housing tribunal, where people generally represent themselves. This entry maps those venues, the time and money they require, and the supports that exist.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.010
In the United States, the gap between civil legal needs and the help people actually receive is vast, and widely misunderstood. This entry sets out the scale of unmet need, the myth of the free civil lawyer, and why so many people never seek help.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.019
Court fees can quietly deter people on low incomes from using the justice system, even where waivers exist. This entry explains how fees act as a barrier, how waivers are meant to soften it, and why an information gap keeps that relief out of reach.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.011
A look at who appears in court without a lawyer in Canada, and the reasons that drive people to self-represent, drawing on national research.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.012
Beyond the merits of a case, self-represented litigants face procedural, evidentiary and emotional obstacles that often decide outcomes before the substance is ever heard.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.020
When the courts speak a language people do not, or write in a register they cannot follow, access to justice fails before the legal question is even reached.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.021
Legal aid is a vital safety net, but its hard income line and limited coverage leave a large group of working people too well-off to qualify and too poor to hire a lawyer.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.013
A look at the supports that can steady a self-represented person, from self-help centres to unbundled services, without replacing a lawyer.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.014
Unbundled legal services let a lawyer handle one defined part of a case while the client manages the rest, offering an affordable middle path.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.022
Family disputes are the single largest source of self-represented litigants, making family law the front line of the access-to-justice challenge.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.015
Canada's first online tribunal shows both the access gains and the limits of resolving disputes online, offering lessons for the next generation of legal technology.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.016
Artificial intelligence is often presented as a way to help people who cannot afford a lawyer, but the same tools carry real accuracy and legal-line risks that anyone building or using them needs to weigh.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.017
When legal documents are written above the reading level of the people who must use them, comprehension itself becomes a barrier; plain language and legal design treat that barrier as a problem to be solved.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.018
Legal information and legal advice are not the same thing, and the line between them defines what a non-lawyer access-to-justice tool may safely offer.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.023
Downloads and page views show that an access-to-justice tool is being used, not that it is helping; measuring real benefit takes deliberate evaluation that the field still rarely does.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.024
Housing and tenancy disputes are among the most common everyday legal problems, and for many people a fight with a landlord is their first real encounter with the legal system.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.025
Eviction moves fast and the consequences are severe, and research on housing dockets shows landlords are often represented while tenants usually are not.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.026
As a general principle tenants are entitled to a reasonably safe and livable home and landlords have maintenance duties, and many disputes about repairs and conditions are decided by specialized tribunals.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.027
Family disputes are the largest single source of self-represented litigants. This entry looks at the scale of family matters, why they are so demanding, and what self-representation really involves.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.028
When parents separate, the law decides questions about children through one guiding principle: the best interests of the child. This entry explains that standard, the shift in language toward parenting, and the role of parenting plans.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.029
Many family disputes can be resolved without a trial. This entry explains why out-of-court options often work well, how family mediation operates, and where it is not appropriate.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.030
Consumer problems like faulty goods and billing disputes are among the most common civil legal issues people face, yet many never get treated as legal matters. This entry looks at why they matter and where they can be resolved.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.031
Debt is one of the most common everyday legal problems and it rarely arrives alone. This entry looks at how debt clusters with other problems, the limits on collection, and why getting organized matters.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.032
Online scams and deceptive practices have grown sharply and can target anyone. This entry covers the protections that exist and the practical steps to take if you have been caught.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.033
Artificial intelligence is widely promoted as a way to help people who cannot afford a lawyer. This entry weighs that promise against the research evidence and sets out where the technology can genuinely help.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.034
AI tools can produce legal citations that look authentic but do not exist. This entry explains how that failure happens, the real consequences it has caused, and the safeguards that reduce the risk.
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Juge.ca Research · JUGE.2026.035
Legal AI sits inside a web of rules about who may give legal advice and how lawyers must work. This entry explains the unauthorized-practice line, new regulatory experiments, and the professional duties that still apply.
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