Access to Justice Game
In any given 3 year period, nearly half of Canadian adults will experience at least one legal problem. Few will have the resources to solve them. The curriculum-linked Access to Justice game increases students’ understanding of the challenges faced by individuals accessing the justice system to resolve a variety of common legal difficulties, from landlord tenant disputes to family law issues.
The game is available in two formats: the digital version, for use on desktop or mobile devices, and the paper version, for in-class roleplaying with pen and paper.
Digital Version
The digital version of the game allows online play for an unlimited number of students to explore civil justice with a click of the mouse! The digital game is supported with the Access to Justice Game – Digital Version – Teacher Guide and the Access to Justice Online Game – Student Worksheet handouts in the downloads section of this page.
Play the digital game with your students by visiting the link below:
DIGITAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE GAME
Paper Version
The original, in-person version of the game has been played by thousands of Ontario students and others. In interactive play, students take on the role of either a community legal provider or a person who requires legal help with a civil justice matter. All the tips, tricks and learning opportunities we’ve discovered in playing with live audiences are available for support in The Access to Justice Game: A Facilitator’s Guide for Teachers. Download the printable Access to Justice Game, along with the Teacher’s Guide and helpful statistics on the state of access to justice in Canada, in the downloads section.
Post-Secondary Use
Many post-secondary instructors who teach undergraduate criminology, social sciences, paralegal, or law clerk programs have found the Access to Justice Game useful for their students. To help this learning, OJEN also offers a Facilitation Guide for Post-Secondary Learning and a version specific to law schools, the Guide for Use in Law Schools. These editions include enhanced contextual information, tailored discussion questions, and suggested readings drawn from the academic and popular research literature around access to justice. They cover both the digital and paper versions of the game.
Acknowledgements
This resource was made possible by a generous grant from the Law Foundation of Ontario Access to Justice Fund. It has been crucial in making the game available in both English and French, creating a digital edition of the game, and ensuring that the game will be accessible to educators across the province. We thank them for their support.
