• know how to take the necessary action to avoid problems and where this is not possible, how to help themselves appropriately;
• know how and where to find information on the law, and be able to find information that is accessible to them,
• know when and how to obtain suitable legal assistance;
• have confidence that the legal system will provide a remedy, and
• understand the process clearly enough to perceive that justice has been done...

Translating the information and meanings of the legal system to learners and people with limited literacy skills requires that lawyers and others clearly understand the dual nature of legal literacy: the ability to read and familiarity with the legal context."³

Canadian Literacy Levels

In the general public only about 60% of Canadian adults have the skills to cope with the everyday reading and writing demands of our society. This means that at least 2 out of every 5 of the people in any courtroom may have literacy problems that interfere with their access to justice and their communications with you. Their difficulties with reading and writing could mean that they have trouble:

• locating the appointment time in a simply worded letter from a lawyer or other official;
• finding when to respond or appear in a notice or summons from court;
• identifying the office number of their lawyer or of a Legal Aid office in a building lobby directory of offices;
• reading or writing a statement taken by police;
• rereading a document to deepen or correct an understanding