Duty Counsel

A Duty Counsel program ensures the availability of free legal advice and assistance to people making their initial criminal court appearance unrepresented by counsel. There is no financial eligibility testing for assistance through this program. Duty Counsel are Legal Aid Alberta staff lawyers who help people understand the court process and who give free legal advice.

Duty Counsel services are provided in:

• adult and youth divisions of Provincial Court
• Family Court (Provincial Court, Edmonton and Calgary  and Court of Queen’s Bench, Edmonton)
• Domestic Violence Court
• Drug Treatment Court
• Mills/O’Connor applications

Duty Counsel service is also available for persons requiring assistance for Mental Health Review Panels hearings and Institutional Disciplinary Hearings.  In addition, LAA Duty Counsel provides legal services as required after Emergency Protection Orders have been granted, to assist clients in reviewing and opposing the orders, and dealing with breaches of these orders.

Specialized Services

Family Duty Counsel

Legal Aid Alberta has recently begun providing Duty Counsel service for family law matters in Edmonton and Calgary.  The need for this expansion has been demonstrated through the high number of people reporting to court for family legal matters without representation by a lawyer.  This reality exhibited an obvious need for affordable legal representation that has become increasingly difficult due to lawyer shortages and increasing costs in legal services for family matters.

YCDO Duty Counsel

YCDO provides legal assistance to unrepresented youth every day in Youth Justice Court (docket courts) in Edmonton and Calgary.  YCDO Duty Counsel assistance includes:

• Providing immediate legal advice
• making an application for judicial interim release (bail hearings)
• seeking withdrawl of charges
• entering of guilty pleas
• speaking to sentence

Duty Counsel for Detained Youth

 In addition to Duty Counsel at the courthouse, Legal Aid Alberta also provides Duty Counsel services specifically for detained persons.  This service ensures access to immediate summary legal advice by telephone, for all detained persons in Alberta regardless of their financial situation.  (You do not need to qualify for legal aid to access this service)

YCDO staff lawyers provide this service (including after hours and weekends) to young persons who are detained and in need of immediate legal advice.  The primary restriction on this service is that it is for young persons who have been arrested pursuant to the Youth Criminal Justice Act or under provincial legislation only.