Literacy Awareness is One Effective Response to these Pressures

Literacy awareness by judges and lawyers as well as a collaboration between literacy organizations and the legal profession can provide some innovative solutions. This booklet offers practical, simple and low cost suggestions for enhancing public confidence in our criminal courts:

• by increasing the public's understanding of the procedures and decisions made in courts;
• by reducing some of the unnecessary delays in the court process;
• by strengthening client respect for their lawyers through improved communication between lawyers and their clients;
• by preventing any miscarriage of justice which can result when accused, witnesses or jurors do not understand the procedures, documents or statements which make up the court process, and
• by responding more effectively to the increasing numbers of accused who are appearing in court without legal representation.

The John Howard Society of Canada and many of the judges, lawyers, police, and community workers consulted in the preparation of this manual also believe that these suggestions will reduce court costs by promaoing more expeditious processing of cases.