The Canadian Bar Association (CBA) says it's prepared to sue provincial governments over what it calls the chronic underfunding of legal aid.

CBA delegates made the decision on Sunday at their annual meeting in London, Ont.

The association represents 37,000 lawyers. It says legal aid is a fundamental and constitutional right which is being denied to many Canadians.

Daphne Dumont

Former association president Daphne Dumont says despite the years her group has spent lobbying for more legal aid money, she thinks the current system is "fragmented, underfunded and dying."

She says changes to poverty laws in British Columbia mean many people simply can't get legal aid, while other provinces offer such limited access those who need it most can't get legal representation.

The CBA has teamed up with nine organizations, including the Canadian Council for Refugees. Council spokesman David Matas says this is much more than a power struggle between the lawyers and the government.

"It's an assertion of rights of a very disadvantaged minority," he says. "Perhaps the most marginalized minority."

Matas says cuts to legal aid impact poor people, people with disabilities as well as immigrants and refugees.

Dumont says the association is getting ready to file a Charter of Rights challenge, asserting that Canadians have a constitutional right to legal aid.

"We feel that the time has come to start getting the courts to order governments to provide legal services to the most disadvantaged people in our society."

Dumont said this is the first time her organization has ever taken steps to sue provincial governments.

The association is hoping that lawyers who hear of the challenge will step forward with a test case of a deserving individual who was denied legal aid.