As we continue to build followers to this blog, we are delighted to receive more and more comments. We very much encourage and welcome this – that is the point of promoting dialogue. However, in the interests of that dialogue, we want to ensure that this is done in a manner that is respectful toward all those using this forum, and furthers the discussion on Access to Justice in a useful way.

Frank, open, and truthful debate is what we encourage. Access to Justice is a topic on which many people understandably feel very strongly – especially those who have had personal experiences, and those for whom this is their life’s work. Our aim is to convene a place for this discussion and exchange.

However, the blog editors reserve the right to withhold approval of any comments that do not serve these aims. We encourage you to review the following guidelines to ensure that we can approve your comment.

  1. We will not approve any comments which could be seen as unlawful, obscene, defamatory, libelous, threatening, pornographic, harassing, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, otherwise disruptive to civil debate on the blog, or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offence, give rise to civil liability, or violate any law.
  2. We will not approve comments containing falsehoods or misrepresentations.
  3. We will not approve comments which are personally harsh and unkind, and would violate the spirit of respectful dialogue that we are committed to promoting.
  4. Comments on the blog need to be to the point and concise, to keep the conversation moving. Shorter comments ensure that as many people as possible read what is posted – and read your comment. Therefore, our comment length limit is about 300 words, or roughly a page. If you wish to share your particular experience as an SRL in more detail, we would love to hear from you, and request that you do so via our Intake Form. This is NSRLP’s ongoing method of collecting, studying, and sharing the SRL experience in Canada, and we analyze and publish these experiences in our annual SRL Intake Report.
  5. Sometimes a particular commentator or commentators will post multiple comments on one blog post. This back-and-forth becomes a private argument. This tends to discourage others from posting comments. We would prefer that these discussions, important as they might be, are conducted in another forum and do not engulf the blog comments for that post.
  6. To foster healthy discussion and debate, we encourage commentators not to post anonymously. (However, given the nature of the SRL phenomenon and the ways it is often viewed within the justice establishment, we do respect the wishes of some people to remain anonymous out of fear of reprisal, and so long as commentators adhere to the above guidelines, we will not withhold comments simply because they are anonymous.)

Thank you for your participation in this dialogue.

The author of each blog post is stated at the top of the page of that particular post.

The views and opinions expressed in the Access Revolution Blog are those of the authors.