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| Backgrounder(s) & FactSheet(s): | Backgrounder |
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| Backgrounder(s) & FactSheet(s): | Backgrounder |
VICTORIA
– British Columbia’s justice system
will be more streamlined and efficient as a result of changes to legislation
introduced today by Attorney General Wally Oppal.
Bill
33, the Attorney General Statutes Amendment Act, 2007, revises the
Administrative Tribunals Act to improve flexibility for the temporary
appointment of tribunal members. The bill clarifies tribunals’ jurisdiction and
discretion to decide B.C. Human Rights Code issues.
Amendments
to the Family Relations Act will enable the child support recalculation service
pilot project to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Changes
to the Supreme Court Act and the Provincial Court Act will support the
integrity of the justice system by allowing information sharing on the conduct
of an employee between the chief administrator of court services branch and the
chief judge or chief justice.
An
amendment to the Legal Services Society Act expands the society’s mandate,
enabling it to provide service and assistance to individuals who currently fall
outside its financial eligibility guidelines. Services and assistance to
low-income individuals remain the society’s priority. The amendment will permit
the society greater flexibility in determining what services to provide and to
which clients. It will empower the society to be a key partner in supporting
the government’s recently announced justice reform initiatives.
The
bill also gives the Law Society of British Columbia additional tools for
regulating the legal profession in the public interest. Among other changes,
the amendments increase the society’s ability to respond if a lawyer is
practising incompetently. The bill also introduces a procedure for obtaining
evidence from other jurisdictions that will streamline discipline and
credential hearings.
Other
housekeeping amendments include a change to the Evidence Act to clarify that
electronically recorded images of documents (such as cheques) are admissible in
the same way as an original.
The
changes will also allow tickets for a range of provincial offences to be served
to people residing outside of British Columbia and enable the mail delivery of
parking violation tickets.
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contact: |
Communications Director Ministry of Attorney General 250 387-4965 |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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