Clicklaw and Provincial Court collaborate on mobile-friendly guides to online legal information resources

Posted to: 
Help
29/09/2015

There are a great many online resources to help people going to court without a lawyer, but it’s not easy to figure out which ones will be most useful. The Clicklaw website aims to solve that problem with its searchable database, where you can find links to various legal and information resources along with a description of what each service or resource offers. Clicklaw.bc.ca also adds value through Common Questions pages that direct users to good starting points for specific problems.

Clicklaw is a website operated by Courthouse Libraries BC, a non-profit organization providing legal information services to legal professionals, the public, and librarians. Clicklaw offers legal information and education designed for the public from over 25 core contributor organizations. Its goal is to enhance access to justice in B.C. Some highlights include: the Clicklaw wikibooks – there’s one on family law, a HelpMap showing sources of help for legal problems, and a blog. It’s mobile-friendly too.

The B.C. Provincial Court and Clicklaw have collaborated on a project to extend the Common Questions function on Clicklaw. It provides specific help for self-represented litigants (people going to court without a lawyer) in family, civil and criminal matters in Provincial Court.

Clicklaw and its Editorial Committee partners have prepared three handouts with concise descriptions of several online resources – one for family, another for criminal, and a third for small claims matters. Each handout includes information to help people prepare for a Provincial Court trial.

 


 

The handouts feature a short URL that people can type on their computers or smart phones anytime, and anywhere. The URL takes you to a Clicklaw Common Question page with convenient links to the featured resources. The webpage can be updated if links and resources change.

Anyone can download and print the PDF handouts from Clicklaw and share them. They can also be given to people who are setting a matter for trial in Provincial Court by court registry staff, judicial case managers, and judges. In the next few months Clicklaw will be evaluating the handouts’ effectiveness in the Surrey and Penticton Provincial Courts.

Please check out these handouts and use or distribute them as you see fit.

Family Court 
Full Link: http://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/question/commonquestion/1165
Shortened Link: http://bit.ly/clicklawpcf

Criminal Court
Full Link: http://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/question/commonquestion/1166
Shortened Link: http://bit.ly/clicklawpcc

Small Claims Court
Full Link: http://www.clicklaw.bc.ca/question/commonquestion/1167
Shortened Link: http://bit.ly/clicklawpcs