Attorney General Andrew Swan today introduced legislation that would allow Legal Aid Manitoba to recover the cost of defending youth accused in criminal cases where their parents could have paid for their child’s lawyer but refused to do so.
In cases where the parents don’t qualify for legal aid yet won’t pay their child’s legal fees, the court often applies a section
of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) that requires publicly funded legal counsel be appointed, which results in legal aid having to represent them anyway, said Swan.
“A youth’s eligibility for legal aid is supposed to depend on his or her family’s income,” he said. “This legislation would help put financial responsibility back where it belongs – with the parents who should be paying for their child’s legal costs.”
The bill, the first of its kind in Canada, would allow Legal Aid Manitoba to recover some of its costs in defending a young person whose family does not qualify for the program. It would make those costs a debt owed to legal aid by the parents of the child. The proposed amendment would also expand the cost-recovery provisions of the Legal Aid Manitoba Act. This recovery would take place only after the legal services have been provided.
Statistics provided by Legal Aid Manitoba indicate the number of YCJA counsel appointments has been increasing. In the last year, there were about 200 cases where counsel was appointed for youth whose parents did not meet legal aid’s financial eligibility guidelines, with an estimated cost of over $100,000.
“Legal Aid Manitoba is for people and families who cannot afford a lawyer,” Swan said. “Parents who can afford to pay their children’s legal bills should do so. This legislation will help Legal Aid Manitoba target its supports to those who most need
them.”
