#bc law

[kxantares]

Substituted service application to serve a notice of civil claim in relation to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fraudulent conveyances stemming from a failed shrooms dispensary on someone through the one known means of contact for them: the asks on their post-Brexit AU Sherlock ask blog,

[sunflowersolace]

watched a few minutes of that autistic lawyer kdrama (amazing attorney young-woo?) and wow it’s already so good i know i’m gonna have to watch the whole thing later

[vancouverlawfirms]

Canadian Court Rules That Polygamy Ban Is Constitutional

OTTAWA — British Columbia’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Canada’s 121-year-old criminal law banning polygamy is constitutional. 

The ruling stemmed from a failed prosecution in 2009 of two leaders of a breakaway Mormon sect in British Columbia and might have implications for followers of other religions that allow polygamy. In a 335-page decision that followed 42 days of hearings, Robert J. Bauman, the court’s chief justice, found that women in polygamous relationships faced higher rates of domestic, physical and sexual abuse, died younger and were more prone to mental illnesses. Children from those marriages, he said, were more likely to be abused and neglected, less likely to perform well at school and often suffered from emotional and behavioral problems.

“The law seeks to advance the institution of monogamous marriage, a fundamental value in Western society from the earliest of times,” Justice Bauman wrote. “It seeks to protect against the many harms which are reasonably apprehended to arise out of the practice of polygamy.” He also made reference to reports of plural marriages among Muslims in Canada before concluding, “There is no evidence that it is a widespread or mainstream phenomenon.”

The province of British Columbia had asked the court to review the law after polygamy charges against two men in the village of Bountiful were dropped in 2009 partly over concerns about the law’s constitutional status. The sect in Bountiful, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has links to the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Tex., where the authorities seized 468 children in a raid during 2008 and brought charges against 12 men.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in February that they were conducting a criminal investigation in Bountiful because evidence presented to the Supreme Court suggested that eight girls from the village, some as young as 12, had been sent to the United States to marry men.

Members of the sect have argued that polygamy should be allowed under Canada’s constitutional guarantees for religious practices.

On Wednesday, Winston Blackmore, one of the sect’s leaders in Bountiful and one of the men charged in the original case, told The Canadian Press that he had always expected that the issue would ultimately make its way to the Supreme Court of Canada. Yet even if Mr. Blackmore, or someone else, asks that court for an appeal there is no assurance that it will hear the case.

Mr. Blackmore was dismissive of the court’s conclusion that polygamy was harmful to women and children and not a protected constitutional right.

“This isn’t just a religious right, it’s our right to freely associate,” added Mr. Blackmore who in the past has admitted that he had at least a dozen wives and about 100 children.

Shirley Bond, British Columbia’s attorney general, praised Justice Bauman’s ruling. “As he clearly found, there is profound harm associated with polygamy, particularly for women and children,” she said.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/world/americas/british-columbia-court-upholds-canadas-polygamy-ban.html?_r=0

[bclegalconsultation]

B.C. government launches two-stage consultation on liquor law reform

The B.C. government launched a consultation on how to reform the province's liquor laws by sending letters on August 7 to what it calls"major stakeholders."

Parliamentary secretary for liquor policy reform John Yap's lettersask for written feedback and ideas for change. In the next few weeks, letters are expected to be sent to more than 10,000 liquor licensees and liquor agency store owners.

"I know many British Columbians have a lot of opinions and our government is open to hearing them as we move forward in this process," said Yap.

He will follow this feedback by meeting with industry, local governments, First Nations, police and health and social policy associations in September and October.

In the consultation's second stage, a liquor policy review website will be launched in September and will provide a platform for the B.C. public to provide feedback.

Yap is then expected to submit a report to Attorney General Suzanne Anton by November 25. That report will also be released to the public.

The B.C. government said in a press release that the goal of the consultation is to find practical, responsible solutions that improve consumer convenience and grow B.C.'s economy while ensuring public safety.

The government release noted some liquor laws that it currently deems to be "limitations to convenience and economic activity."

Those include:

not allowing minors that are accompanied by a parent or guardian into pubs that serve food during daytime hours;

not allowing wines and other local liquor to be sold at farmers' markets;

not allowing establishments like spas to be eligible for licensing permits; and

taking upwards of a year to obtain a licence for bars and pubs.

Business in Vancouver recently reported on industry advocates urging government to allow restaurant owners to alter the price of a drink during the day and for winery owners to open a second tasting room to sell direct to the public.

Source: http://www.biv.com/article/2013/8/bc-government-launches-two-stage-consultation-on-l/

[bclegalservices]

‘Urgent crisis’ facing B.C. family law services

Women’s advocacy group is proposing two pilot projects to address cuts to legal aid

A women’s advocacy group is proposing two pilot projects to address an ‘urgent crisis’ in family law services caused by cuts to legal aid over the past decade.

Although 6,579 women applied in 2013 for legal aid to help with a family law matter, fewer than half received a referral, according to a West Coast LEAF report released Wednesday. In that same reporting time, 2,870 men applied for legal aid for the same matter.

“Access to justice and family law in particular is the most urgent crisis in B.C.’s justice system,” said LEAF legal director Laura Track in an interview with The Vancouver Sun.

“These issues are so profound around family law: access to children, economic security of spouses, fair division of assets and the health and safety of women fleeing abusive situations.”

The most dramatic cut to Legal Services Society took place in 2002, when its budget was slashed by almost 40 per cent over three years. As a result, the number of family law litigants approved for legal aid decreased from more than 15,500 in 2001 to fewer than 4,500 in 2012/13.

Of those who were referred to a legal aid lawyer on any matter, only 32 per cent were women.

The report found that 72 per cent of the legal aid referrals were for criminal matters and most of these involved men. And 16 per cent of the referrals were for family law cases.

“The vast majority of legal aid is allocated to criminal matters and men are more likely to need and receive that support,” said Track.

“When the government cut funding, it had a disproportionate effect on women.”

The report also noted that 38 per cent of Canadian marriages end in divorce, resulting in approximately 70,000 divorce orders annually. Family law cases account for about 35 per cent of all civil cases in B.C. There were 68,532 active Family Court cases in B.C. in 2009 to 2010.

“Despite the frequency with which family legal issues arise, access to justice in family law cases is out of reach for the vast majority of British Columbians,” the LEAF report stated.“Research prepared for the Law Foundation of BC found that family law is the most significant unmet legal need in the province.”

West Coast LEAF’S pilot projects would include lawyers working directly in community agencies servicing women, and for a women’s clinic, led by student lawyers, to provide free and low cost family law services in the Metro Vancouver area, with a travel and technology budget to serve remote regions.

Track said the Legal Services Society Plan for 2014 shows a budget surplus of $5.5 million and although $4.3 million is tentatively earmarked for updating its database, that would still leave $1.2 million that could help pay for the cost of the two pilot projects.

But, she said, the surplus can’t be spent without government approval.

“Since the dramatic cuts in 2002, government funding for legal aid has remained relatively stable, but has not been adjusted for inflation. Nor has it kept pace with other components of the justice system. From 1994/5 to 2008/9, the Provincial Court’s budget increased by 114 per cent and funding for prosecution services went up to 132 per cent, while legal aid funding dropped by 22 per cent.”

The report stated B.C. is now the third lowest province or territory in Canada in per capita spending on legal aide.

The agency says its recommendations are based on a year of consultations in 16 urban, rural and remote communities across B.C.

Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Urgent+crisis+facing+family+services/9555637/story.html

[squeakykins]

i'm really confused, like. i remember reading that news story about like a 10 yr old trans girl in BC who fought to change the laws about gender markers on official documents, so that you don't need to have had surgery to do so. 

apparently she won, and the law was supposed to have passed several months ago, but I can't find information on it anywhere?? like... this is kind of a huge fucking deal. if I can literally just go into service BC and be like 'yo I wanna change the gender marker on my documents to M' without having to provide a doctor's note proving I've had bottom surgery......... that is amazeballs.

I guess I'll just have to phone someone and ask??

[transvevo-blog]

I JUST WANT TO WRITE AT LEAST ONE GOOD BOOK how hard can it be to find the focus, I've got plenty of all the other things, I'm just too pragmatic to consider writing as a career bc it's an art and I feel that shit in my soul and making it my 'job' is scary. I don't want to ruin the magic of reading by letting it become my whole life. Now I'm gonna go finish this poem I started earlier and cry a bit.

[dailyst0ner-blog]

Do your parents know your smoking weed?

This was a question I was asked this afternoon by an anon , and I decided to make a post about this . I'm pretty damn sure my dad knows I smoke weed , and I'm pretty damn sure my mom is watching over me in heaven while I smoke a bowl . I am almost 18 , and my dad is also a stoner . With that being said , I'm not going out and smoking around the city , in the city that I used to live in before moving to this current city I would pack a bowl or roll a joint and go out hiking in the woods with a friend or two . But being an underage smoker , I don't use it as an excuse to be ripped out of my mind and do stupid shit .

Although here in BC it depends on the city you're in and the police . In the city I lived in before , you could walk around high and as long as you weren't a danger to yourself or others you were pretty much free to go about your day . In BC we can be arrested for being high in public under the Offence Act , Section 91 (1) . Which it states ;  (1) If a peace officer finds, in a place to which the public has access, a person who is in a state of intoxication, the peace officer may take that person into custody.   One of the misconceptions of being a stoner from BC is that we can get away with almost anything . Which depending on the area is true . Depending on what you're carrying on you at the time , the office you're dealing with , if you have a past record and all that jazz . You'll probably get your stash taken and probably your piece if it's a small amount of weed , personally I have never come in contact with an officer and had anything taken.  So here's what I'm saying to all you underage smokers , if you're really young I really don't feel comfortable with you looking at my blog and reading the content . For all of you that around 17-18 , keep it on the down low until you turn 18 because you don't want to risk your parents life with you getting busted for possession .