WHO WE ARE
The Law Commission of Ontario is Ontario’s leading law reform agency. The LCO provides independent, balanced and authoritative advice on complex legal policy issues. Our work promotes access to justice and contributes to public debate.
The LCO’s multiyear AI in the Civil/Administrative Justice System project brings together policymakers, legal professionals, technologists, NGOs and community members to discuss the development, deployment, regulation and impact of artificial intelligence (AI), automated decision-making (ADM) and algorithms on access to justice, human rights, and due process.
The LCO’s Criminal AI Lifecycle project is the first legal and policy reform project in Canada to review how artificial intelligence (AI) impacts each stage in a criminal justice matter. Our goal is to help government and different criminal justice institutions anticipate the risks and benefits of AI on access to justice, due process, human rights, and civil liberties; and to help these institutions identify and adopt concrete and practical legal and policy reform responses to the shared challenges of AI.
The LCO’s Digital Marketplace Initiative collaborated with leading academics in Canada in an innovative, data-driven project to identify law reform options related to so-called “click to consent” or “terms of service” (ToS) contracts.
The LCO’s Improving Protection Orders project is examining why protection orders are not working effectively to prevent femicide and intimate partner violence in Ontario.
The LCO considered possible reforms to Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights and other contemporary approaches to strengthening environmental accountability in Ontario. Issues included the desirability, feasibility and enforceability of legislating a substantive right to a healthy environment, the responsibilities corresponding to such a right, and proposals for enhancing environmental access to justice.
Environmental Accountability – Indigenous Engagement
This project began in the fall of 2024. Please check back for more details.
LCO Appears Before Bill 194 Standing Committee
On November 15th, the LCO’s Nye Thomas and Susie Lindsay will appear before the Standing Committee on Justice Policy to discuss Bill 194, the provincial government’s first effort to regulate AI use by public [...]
LCO and OHRC release Human Rights AI Impact Assessment
The Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) and the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) have developed a comprehensive new tool to help organizations evaluate AI systems for human rights compliance. The Human Rights AI Impact [...]
LCO Webinar for Access to Justice Week 2024: AI Regulation in Ontario
We’re excited to be hosting an event during the Law Society of Ontario (LSO)’s Access to Justice (A2J) Week 2024! Join us online on Monday, October 28th, for an engaging session on AI Regulation in [...]
