BCLI Study Paper Serves as Platform for Attorney General’s Consultation on Civil Juries

As part of its public consultation on the future of civil juries in British Columbia, the Ministry of Attorney General has drawn on a study paper written by  BCLI titled Civil Juries in British Columbia: Anachronism or Cornerstone of the Civil Justice Process to inform the discussion. Following a request from the Ministry, BCLI conducted comparative legal research and analysis on civil juries and outlined several options for reform. The paper examines the use of civil juries Read more…

Parentage project committee considers court declarations of parentage

BCLI’s Parentage Law Reform Project Committee has been meeting monthly over the course of this year. At its most recent meeting—held in July 2021—it completed its overview of the legal, medical, and social dimensions of parentage, by examining processes for surrogacy, donors, and multi-parent families. In the meeting, the committee also began its detailed consideration of the provisions of part 3 of the Family Law Act. Its focus was on section 31, which deals with the court’s Read more…

A closer look at the Report on Modernizing the Child, Family and Community Service Act: Disclosure

This post is part of a series highlighting recommendations in the Report on Modernizing the Child, Family and Community Service Act. For other posts in the series click here. Should section 64 of the Child, Family and Community Service Act be amended to conform with case-law stipulations on what a director should disclose? Brief description of the issue Section 64 of the Child, Family and Community Service Act sets out the general disclosure obligations for child Read more…

BCLI Remembers Arthur Close, QC

Arthur L. Close, QC  1941-2021 BCLI greatly regrets the passing in late June 2021 of Arthur L. Close, QC, a founding member of BCLI and its first Executive Director.  For almost 50 years, he was prominently associated with law reform in British Columbia and nationally. Originally from Edmonton, Mr. Close obtained a degree in mathematics and worked for a time as a professional stage actor in the UK before graduating from the UBC Faculty of Read more…

BCLI recommendations on child employment to be implemented in October 2021

Forthcoming changes to employment standards for children and young workers announced in a news release on 21 July 2021 by the Ministry of Labour will implement recommendations contained in BCLI’s 2018 Report on the Employment Standards Act.  BCLI’s report pointed out that the statutory rules in effect in BC for employment of children deviate from Canadian and international standards on the minimum age for employment and the kinds of work in which juvenile workers may Read more…