News room/ Press Releases
Media Contacts
For more information on the Commission des services juridiques, members of the media should contact Mr Nadine Koussa, Communications responsible at 514-873-3562 ext: 5249.
Press Releases
Press Releases 2008
Montreal, December 30, 2008. - As of January 1, 2009, a fourth increase in three years of legal aid eligibility thresholds will come into effect. As a consequence, a family comprised of a two spouses with two children and an annual family income of $29,283, will now be eligible for legal aid under the contributory scheme.
« Any Québécois of modest means who encounters a legal problem would be wise to verify his or her eligibility for legal aid with the legal aid office closest to his or her home. Many people are unaware that they may be entitled to services at no cost or for a minimal financial contribution », explained Mtre Denis Roy, Chairman of the Commission des services juridiques.
This latest increase should therefore encourage more people to verify their eligibility for services at no cost or for services under the contributory scheme. According to Mtre Roy, the contributory scheme provides a unique formula allowing someone to be represented before the courts by a lawyer, and to know in advance the maximum he or she will have to pay in legal fees and expenses. This scheme entitles a person to legal services if his or her income, assets and liquidities correspond to the eligibility scales in effect and if the person pays a financial contribution ranging from $100 to $800, depending on his or her financial and family situation.
The indexed increase in the eligibility scale is part of a plan to gradually raise the legal aid eligibility thresholds during the period from January 2006 to January 2010 inclusively.
The Commission des services juridiques is the agency charged with applying the Legal Aid Act in Québec. Legal aid may be granted to anyone who is financially eligible, in order to cover various legal services involving civil, family, administrative or criminal matters or matters relating to youth law.
The new eligibility scale for legal services at no cost as follows:
Category of Applicant : Maximum Annual Income
- For a single person : 12 149 $
For an applicant whose family is comprised of:
- one adult and one child : 15 212 $
- one adult and 2 children or + : 16 591 $
- spouses without children : 16 941 $
- spouses with 1 child : 19 170 $
- spouses with 2 children or + : 20 548 $
You could be entitled to legal aid subject to a contribution of $100 to $800, based on the following eligibility scale:
Category of Applicant : Maximum Annual Income
- For a single person : 17 313 $
For an applicant whose family is comprised of:
- one adult and one child : 21 677 $
- one adult and 2 children or + : 23 641 $
- spouses without children : 24 141 $
- spouses with 1 child : 27 318 $
- spouses with 2 children or + : 29 283 $
For further information, contact your local legal aid office or visit the Commission des services juridiques website at: http://www.csj.qc.ca .
- 30 -
Source:
Marie-Noëlle Trottier
Agente d'information
(514)873-3562