LASA 2020 Rules and Policies

Glossary

Click here to access a list of terms used on the LASA 2020 website and their definitions.

Consolidated Rules

In accordance with the Legal Aid Services Act, 2020 (LASA 2020), Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) developed Legal Aid Services Rules (Rules). These Rules are approved by LAO’s Board of Directors and now govern the administration of legal aid services in Ontario. They have enabled LAO to modernize and streamline its operational structure, increasing efficiency, and continually improving its service.

All provisions of Amending Rules are consolidated into the Consolidated Rules, whether or not they are in force. Provisions that are not yet in force appear as grey-shaded text.

Amending Rules

From time to time, LAO’s Board of Directors will amend the Rules in order to ensure that LAO is being responsive to changes in its operational needs and to ensure the ongoing delivery of high-quality and efficient legal aid services. The amending rules are accessible here:

Point-in-Time Rules

Point-in-time versions of the Rules are previous versions of the Rules, which are being kept for reference and are accessible here.

Board Resolutions

All board resolutions relating to the creation of or amendment of the Rules:

LASA 2020 Policies

Supporting the Rules are Policies that provide direction, limits, and guidance for how the Rules are to be applied. These Policies are listed and accessible below. They have been approved by LAO’s Board of Directors. If LAO is going to propose changes to these Policies in the future, it will do so following the process set out in the Legal Aid Ontario Public Consultation Policy made under section 33 of LASA 2020.

Certificate management

Policies that direct how roster members accept and manage a certificate through its lifespan.

Eligibility

Policies that govern financial eligibility and other requirements for receiving legal aid services.

Entity Service Providers

Policies that standardize and control how LAO engages and works with service providers that are entities, e.g., community legal clinics, Indigenous legal services organizations, student legal services organizations.

Recovery of Cost

Policies for LAO’s recovery of expenses of providing legal aid services

Roster membership

Policies that influence how LAO manages its roster of service providers.

Roster payments

Policies guiding how LAO will pay service providers for providing services under a certificate or for duty counsel work.

s. 33 Consultation policy

Policy governing whether and how LAO seeks the public’s views about changes to its rules and/or board-approved policies.