UK court allows posthumous use of embryo despite lack of written consent

In a recent decision, the family division of the High Court of England and Wales allowed a husband to use an embryo created by in vitro fertilization with his wife for birth by surrogacy, even though the wife (who died after creation of the embryo by IVF) didn’t provide written consent for this use. The decision has attracted media attention in the United Kingdom as “a landmark legal case,” which “could be the UK’s first Read more…

We’ve Published Our Gender Diverse Legal Writing Guide

The British Columbia Law Institute (BCLI) is pleased to release its latest publication, Gender Diversity in Legal Writing: Pronouns, Honorifics, and Gender-Inclusive Techniques. The Guide was developed in response to changes in legal practice and to reflect society’s adoption of a more inclusive view of gender, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.  Although this publication is a writing guide, it also encourages writers to consider the impact of their language choices in relation to Read more…

Parentage committee finishes discussion of multiparent provisions for children conceived by sexual intercourse and starts discussion of donors

In June, BCLI’s Parentage Law Reform Project Committee finalized its discussion of whether multiparent configurations should be extended to conception by sexual intercourse. This topic has been the subject of discussion for several consecutive meetings starting in March 2022, and continuing at the April 2022 and May 2022 meetings. Who should be made a parent by a multiparent agreement? At this meeting, the Committee turned its attention to the issue of who should be required Read more…

June 2022 Newsletter: Our team continues to grow. Plus, our annual reports are now available!

Our 2020 & 2021 Annual Reports are Now Available! We’re excited to announce that our joint 2020 & 2021 annual report is now available! As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and internal changes at the BCLI, we have combined the past two years into one report. These past two years have been productive for the BCLI and we are pleased to share with all of you the various projects and publications that we have been Read more…

Gregory K Steele QC Prize Winning Paper in Elder Law for 2021-22: Canada and the UN Principles for the Older Person

In December of 1991, the United Nations (UN) established a list of principles for the rights of older persons that they encourage members to incorporate into their national programmes: independence, participation, care, self-fulfilment, and dignity. The original purpose of this paper was to draft a Canadian Charter for the Rights of Elderly Persons. This Charter would be necessary as UN resolutions are not made law in a signatory’s country, but are instead a set of Read more…