Indigenous Justice Centres (IJCs) provide culturally appropriate free legal information, advice, support, and representation to Indigenous people, regardless of whether they qualify for legal aid or not. They take a holistic approach to addressing their client’s legal issues by connecting them with other supports they may need, including housing, mental health services, addictions treatment, and employment services.
Currently, IJCs focus on two legal areas: criminal law and child protection.
For child protection matters, parents or extended family members can contact IJCs to access free legal help, logistical, and parenting support. For more information, see their page Navigating Child Protection Matters with Indigenous Justice Centres.
For criminal matters, IJCs provide free legal representation for Indigenous individuals facing criminal charges. They can help at various stages of the legal process and facilitate the writing of Gladue Reports when needed. Gladue Reports show a complete snapshot of the client’s life and how they have been impacted by colonialism; judge’s must consider Gladue Reports when sentencing Indigenous individuals. The IJCs’ page on Gladue Services gives an overview of who has Gladue rights, what factors judges must consider, and what goes into writing a report. See their page on Navigating Criminal Matters with Indigenous Justice Centres for more information.
Indigenous Justice Centres are now available in 15 communities around the province, including:
- Burns Lake
- Chilliwack
- Cranbrook
- Fort St. John
- Hazelton
- Kamloops
- Kelowna
- Merritt
- Nanaimo
- Port Hardy
- Prince George
- Prince Rupert
- Surrey
- Vancouver
- Victoria
- Williams Lake
For those communities without a physical location, IJC services are also available virtually through the Virtual Indigenous Justice Centre. This service can be contacted from anywhere in BC by phone at 1-866-786-0081 or email at virtual@bcfnjc.com.
This article is a LawMatters Blog post written for current awareness at the time of publishing. Please check the publication date as some information may have changed since then.