The formal court system in Australia has long been criticised for its adversarial nature. As a result, there has been an increase in the use of alternative dispute resolution processes such as mediation. These are promoted as a means of increasing access to justice by disadvantaged groups and as an inexpensive way of solving legal or quasi-legal…

A Canadian Bar Association Task Force on Legal Literacy explored the relationship between literacy and access to the legal system. A literature review revealed that little attention had been directed to literacy and use of the legal system. Three important findings emerged from 24 focus groups of current and former adult learners: virtually all…

A comparative study of the impact of violence on immigrant women's learning was conducted among immigrant women of two communities in the Toronto area: the Spanish-speaking community and the Kurds. The two authors of the study each worked with one of the communities in which they had knowledge of the language. An in-depth, non-structured,…