The Ontario government and the Criminal Lawyers' Association say they have
reached an agreement to end a boycott over legal aid payments.
More than 1,000 defence lawyers have
been taking part in the boycott that began in June.
The lawyers started to refuse to
defend all homicide cases as well as gangs and guns indictments to protest what
they were paid under the legal aid system.
The lawyers had threatened to expand
their boycott to other cases unless they reached an agreement with the province
by today.
A government news release says there
will be an increase in the hourly fees by an average of five per cent per year
for the next seven years.
It also says it will be providing
additional funding for enhanced family law and poverty law services and
instituting block fees for standard criminal cases.
About 100 people had been unable to
get a lawyer under legal aid because of the boycott.