August 5, 2020

BCLI Announces New Executive Director

The British Columbia Law Institute (BCLI) is pleased to announce the appointment of its new Executive Director, Karen Campbell, effective September 8, 2020. Karen Campbell brings over 20 years of experience practicing public interest law in British Columbia – most of which has involved law reform and advocacy for strengthened legal Read more…

June 23, 2020

Amendments to the Wills, Estates and Succession Act enable electronic wills and electronic witnessing of wills

With a bill introduced into the legislative assembly on Monday, the BC government is proposing two changes to the Wills, Estates and Succession Act. First, the bill’s amendments will make permanent the changes on remote witnessing of wills that were enabled by a recent ministerial order. As a government news Read more…

June 16, 2020

Remembering Gordon Turriff Q.C.

BCLI is saddened to learn of the passing of Gordon Turriff Q.C. on June 3, 2020. As a founding member and director of the BCLI, Gordon has always been a part of the extended BCLI family. Many have written, and will undoubtedly continue to write, about Gordon’s numerous contributions to Read more…

June 5, 2020

Federal government delays implementation of Divorce Act amendments

Citing “extraordinary circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the federal department of justice announced today that it is delaying the implementation of significant amendments to the Divorce Act. Bill C-78 was slated to come into force on 1 July 2020, but with today’s announcement “the coming into force date has Read more…

June 2, 2020

Ministerial orders allow electronic witnessing of wills and personal-planning documents in British Columbia

In a pair of ministerial orders dated 19 May 2020, the government of British Columbia has enabled electronic witnessing of wills, enduring powers of attorney, and representation agreements. The ministerial orders are temporary; they are set to expire when the COVID-19 pandemic state of emergency ends. The government explained the Read more…