How to get legal information
and legal advice

If you don’t have a lawyer for an appeal, you will have to prepare and file your documents and do your own legal research. You will need to learn about the court system, what documents to file, the specific law in your case, and the possible arguments for your case. This website can help.

In civil and family appeals, there are a couple of issues to keep in mind right away:

1. There are strict deadlines that you must keep in mind. For most appeals, the deadline for starting an appeal is 30 days after the date of the judgment or order being appealed from.
2. There is no automatic right of appeal in Saskatchewan. In some cases, you must seek leave to appeal, which means you must apply to the court for permission to initiate your case. For most cases requiring leave, the deadline for making an application for leave is 15 days after the date of the judgment or order being appealed from. In the civil context, you can learn more in the Leave to appeal section of the Appellant Guidebook.
3. An appeal is not a rehearing of your case. This is often misunderstood. For an appeal to be successful, you must show that the lower court or decision-maker made a factual or legal error that affected the outcome of your case.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND HELP …

There are organizations that can provide you with legal information, legal advice, and referrals to a variety of services in your community.

Pro Bono Law Saskatchewan operates free legal clinics at various sites across the province.

The Public Legal Education Association (PLEA) of Saskatchewan hosts a Family Law portal that provides detailed information on divorce and separation issues, including a forms wizard.

You should find out whether you can get legal aid through Legal Aid Saskatchewan.

You should call the Legal Aid office nearest you. Find a list of legal aid offices.

If you have been refused legal aid and do not have enough money to hire a lawyer, you might be able to get a court-appointed lawyer. See Section 2.4 Getting a court-appointed lawyer (Section 684 application) for more information about this process.

If you have been refused legal aid and your application for a court-appointed lawyer has been dismissed, you may be able to access a pro-bono lawyer through Pro Bono Law Saskatchewan’s Criminal Appeal Panel. Contact Pro Bono Law Saskatchewan.

If you don’t have a lawyer for an appeal, you will have to prepare and file your documents and do your own legal research. You will need to learn about the court system, what documents to file, the specific law in your case, and the possible arguments for your case. This website can help.

In criminal appeals, there are a couple of issues to keep in mind right away:

1. There are strict deadlines that you must meet. The deadline for starting an appeal is 30 days after the date that your sentence was imposed.
2. An appeal is not a rehearing of your case. This is often misunderstood. For an appeal to be successful, you must show that the lower court made a factual or legal error that affected the outcome of your case.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND HELP …

There are organizations that can provide you with legal information, legal advice, and referrals to a variety of services in your community.

Pro Bono Law Saskatchewan operates free legal clinics at various sites across the province.

CLASSIC Law operates walk-in clinics and legal advice clinics in Saskatoon.