© Cort Sloan/CBC Defence lawyers will stay out of the courtroom in Calgary and Edmonton on Friday morning for 90 minutes. Alberta defence lawyers will stage a 90-minute courthouse walkout in Edmonton and Calgary on Friday morning, to protest the lack of progress in their fight with the provincial government for increased legal aid funding. "Across the province, defence lawyers have decided that enough is enough," the lawyers stated in a joint news release issued Wednesday afternoon by the Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer and southern Alberta defence lawyers associations. Legal Aid Alberta (LAA) is a non-profit organization that provides legal services to Albertans in family, domestic violence, child welfare, immigration and criminal defence cases. Beginning Thursday, the defence lawyers will stop accepting new legal aid cases for the most serious criminal charges, including sex assaults and homicides.

Source: CBC News September 01, 2022 04:14 UTC