Australian Law Reform Commission Report on Reforming Justice Responses to Sexual Violence

The Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) recently published its report Safe, Informed, Supported: Reforming Justice Responses to Sexual Violence.

From the press release:

"[The Commission] concluded that the justice system is currently failing to meet the twin goals of access to justice and accountability. The justice system is not supporting those who have experienced sexual violence to seek justice, nor holding those who use sexual violence to account (...)"

"In at least some Australian jurisdictions, between 75-85% of reports to police do not proceed to charge, and even fewer reports proceed to court. Once in court, many people report experiencing the justice system as retraumatising."

"The ALRC’s report shines a spotlight on under-engagement with the justice system as the primary issue that needs to be addressed. If people who have experienced sexual violence do not feel sufficiently safe, informed and supported to access and utilise the justice system, the justice system’s critical role in responding to and preventing sexual violence cannot be realised."

Human Rights AI Impact Assessment Backgrounder Released by Law Commission of Ontario

In November 2024, the Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) and the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) published an AI human rights impact assessment based specifically on Canadian human rights law. 

This week, the LCO published what it calls a Backgrounder that summarizes the benefits, limitations, and choices in artificial intelligence impact assessments.

"This Backgrounder accompanies the LCO/OHRC HRIA [AI human rights impact assessment]. It can be read as both an introduction to the HRIA and a summary analysis of AI impact assessments generally."

"The LCO/OHRC HRIA is based on extensive research on AI regulation and AI impact assessment tools. The LCO consulted with a wide range of stakeholders and key informants, including government officials, lawyers, technologists, academics, NGOs, and representatives from both large and small private enterprises."

"The Backgrounder summarizes the benefits, limitations, and strategic choices inherent in developing a HRIA. The LCO believes that policymakers and stakeholders will benefit from a comprehensive look at of the choices, opportunities, and challenges in this project."

New Zealand Law Commission Consultation Paper on Hate Crime

The Law Commission of New Zealand recently published a consultation paper on hate crime.

"This review has its origins in the 15 March 2019 terrorist attack on Christchurch masjidain (Muslim places of worship), which claimed the lives of 51 people, leaving 40 people with gunshot injuries. The murder, attempted murder and wounding of these people is a devastating example of a hate crime. It was committed by an individual with extreme right-wing views and lacking in empathy for “those he was able to ‘other’, most particularly Muslim migrants in Western countries”."

"A Royal Commission of Inquiry was established to investigate whether public sector agencies had done all they could to protect the people of Aotearoa New Zealand from terrorist attacks and whether more could be done to prevent attacks in the future (...)"

"In relation to hate crime, the Royal Commission recommended the creation of new hate crime offences. These would impose higher maximum penalties for crimes committed because of an offender’s hostility towards a group of people who have a common characteristic (...)"

"In March 2024, the Minister of Justice asked the Law Commission to review the law relating to hate crime. The Minister asked that we focus our work on whether the law should be changed to create hate crime offences as recommended by the Royal Commission."

The paper also discusses the experience of other jurisdictions, including England and Wales, Scotland and certain states in Australia. 

Recent Government of Canada Publications from the Weekly Acquisitions List

The Government of Canada's Weekly Acquisitions List is a list of publications by various public bodies and agencies of the federal government that were catalogued in the previous week

Among other documents, the most recent list features:

• Public inquiry into foreign interference in federal electoral processes and democratic institutions : final report (The Honourable Marie-Josée Hogue, Commissioner): "I also note from the evidence that Canada has responded to attempts at foreign interference with measures and mechanisms to  better detect, deter and counter them. I took note of the competence, dedication and experience of the members of Canada’s senior public service and national security and intelligence community who testified before me. These men and women, who work in the shadows and beyond partisan lines, play a crucial role in safeguarding our democratic institutions, and they do it well. That said, the government’s response has been far from perfect: I have observed that the government has sometimes taken too long to act, and that coordination between the various players involved has not always been optimal. Processes by which information had to be passed on to certain decision-makers, including elected officials, have not proved as effective as they should have been.  In addition, the government has proven to be a poor communicator and insufficiently transparent when it comes to foreign interference. The measures implemented over the past two years, along with several statements made on the matter, suggest that the government is now prioritizing the fight against foreign interference. This must continue. (from Volume 1 - Word from the Commissioner)"
• Protecting language rights : overview of the Commissioner's interventions in the courts (2018-2025) (Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages): "Here I am—already at the end of a seven-year mandate as Commissioner of Official Languages, during which great progress has been made in terms of language rights in Canada. As the cases I participated in—either as a party or intervener—throughout my mandate show, I have not hesitated to appear in court to both protect language rights and advance jurisprudence in this area. Unsurprisingly, I have been involved in many cases involving my enabling statute, defending fundamental rights such as access to the courts in the official language of one’s choice, the public’s right to receive services and communications in the official language of their choice, the right to work in the official language of one’s choice in the public service and the vitality of official language minority communities. Like my predecessors, I also took every opportunity to make innovative arguments before the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the right to minority-language education, as is constitutionally protected by section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Lastly, twice before the Supreme Court of Canada, I helped protect access to the courts in the official language of one’s choice under section 530 of the Criminal Code. Reflecting on all these cases, I am finishing out my mandate with cautious optimism about the protection of language rights for individuals and official language communities in Canada. (Raymond Théberge, Commissioner of Official Languages)"
• What We Heard - The Law Commission of Canada in Listen & Learn Mode June to December 2024: "When the LCC officially resumed its operations in June 2023, it immediately began its formal engagement with individuals and organizations who, each in their own ways, embodied aspects of the agency’s raison d’être: living law, pursuing justice, renewing hope. Through roundtables, multilateral discussions, individual meetings, larger conferences, and informal conversations, the LCC sought to develop an understanding of the law reform and justice landscape in Canada and beyond. These engagements bore many fruits: they helped to uncover issues which interlocutors considered pressing or likely to emerge on the horizon; they presented an opportunity to understand interesting initiatives already underway, so as to avoid unintended duplication and to identify potential partnerships; and the roundtables and multilateral discussions served as a site for mutually beneficial exchange, allowing participants to learn about the work and perspectives of others, and to form connections across their endeavours (...) This is the LCC’s third What We Heard report, covering the period from June to December 2024. It sets out the preoccupations, projects, and possibilities that emerged from the LCC’s engagements during that period, including: Listen & Learn roundtables with faculties of law; meetings with Parliamentarians; participation in numerous conferences; discussions with scholars interested in questions of law and justice; focus circles with subject-matter experts; and rich exchanges with members of the judiciary, public policy makers, and community organizations."

Annual Report of the Law Commission of Canada

The Government of Canada's Weekly Acquisitions List is a list of publications by various public bodies and agencies of the federal government that were catalogued in the previous week. 

The most recent issue includes the most recent annual report of the Law Commission of Canada (LCC).

The LCC was created by an Act of Parliament to provide independent, non-partisan guidance on the evolution of law in Canada.

Law Commission of Ontario Document on Human Rights AI Impact Assessment

The Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) and the Ontario Human Rights Commission have published an AI human rights impact assessment based specifically on Canadian human rights law. 

"The Law Commission of Ontario and Ontario Human Rights Commission have joined together to create an AI impact assessment tool to provide organizations a method to assess AI systems for compliance with human rights obligations. The purpose of this human rights AI impact assessment (“HRIA” or “the tool”) is to assist developers and administrators of AI systems to identify, assess, minimize or avoid discrimination and uphold human rights obligations throughout the lifecycle of an AI system..."

"Bias and discrimination in AI are real and complex. Bias and discrimination can be easy to overlook or ignore. Left unchecked, AI can cause deep and longstanding harm to individuals, communities and organizations. Bias and discrimination can also present economic, legal and public relations consequences for organizations. Assessing for bias and discrimination is not a simple task. As such, it should not be an afterthought or minor consideration but be integrated into every stage of design, development and implementation of AI..."

"This tool is expected to help designers, developers, operators and owners of AI systems to identify and reduce bias and discrimination. The tool is a guide that, when applied carefully and thoughtfully, should help organizations build better AI and help in understanding human rights obligations."

Scottish Law Commission Discussion Paper on Civil Remedies for Domestic Abuse

The Scottish Law Commission has released a discussion paper on Civil Remedies for Domestic Abuse. It is part of a consultation process that ends in January 2025:

Many problems have been identified with current legislation on the issue:

• It is unclear how or if the law in this area interacts with criminal and child law.
• The legislation relating to the civil protection orders that can be sought in domestic abuse cases is fragmented, and the options are complicated.
• There are multiple different protective remedies available, all contained in different statutes and with different threshold tests (and there are concerns that some of the statutory tests are too high, for example for exclusion orders and powers of arrest).
• Even once a victim/survivor secures a civil protection order, there can be issues about enforcement.
• There is insufficient recognition of the impact of domestic abuse on children in the civil protection legislation.

The Discussion Paper explores many of the criticisms and considers possible changes.

It also looks at the law of civil remedies for domestic abuse in other jurisdictions, including Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Ireland, and New Zealand.

English Law Commission Consultation on Contempt of Court

The Law Commission of England has published a consultation paper on the law of contempt of court.

As explained in the summary document:

"The law of contempt is disorganised and, at times, incoherent. It has developed over centuries, but has done so piecemeal, and now comprises an unsystematic amalgam of statute and common law. Historic distinctions persist, such as the distinction between civil and criminal contempt, though with little utility. Indeed, whether classified as criminal or civil, contempt is not a criminal offence at all but is instead a wholly separate regime for safeguarding the administration of justice. The penalties for contempt are generally imprisonment or a fine. Alongside contempt of court are many overlapping criminal offences relating to the administration of justice (such as the offence of perverting the course of justice)."

"Nevertheless, the more fundamental problems with contempt are practical. Many courts and tribunals lack meaningful powers to deal with contempt when it arises. Even when courts do have such powers, the sanctions available to them – as tools either of coercion or punishment – are blunt. The procedures for contempt differ between different courts, and the law governing appeals can be unclear and complex (...)"

"All of these problems mean that it is difficult for laypeople and legal practitioners to identify and understand the relevant law, and for the courts to recognise and respond appropriately to interferences with the administration of justice."

"A clearer and more coherent set of laws and rules governing contempt – addressing liability for contempt, the powers of courts, procedure, and the imposition of sanctions – would help to ensure that this very significant area of law operates in a principled, comprehensible, and effective way."

The Law Commission proposes to do away with centuries-old distinctions between “criminal contempt” and “civil contempt” in favour of a modern, streamlined set of contempt laws.

The Commission proposes that there should be three forms of contempt of court:

• “General contempt”. Examples include abusing court staff or witnesses, disrupting a hearing, or making unauthorised recordings of proceedings.
• “Contempt by breach of court order or undertaking”. Examples include litigants in high value commercial disputes taking assets out of the country in contravention of a “freezing order” requiring them not to do so, or protesters entering on land when an injunction prohibits it.
• “Contempt by publication when proceedings are active”. Examples include media reporting or social media posts that create a substantial risk that the course of justice in active proceedings will be seriously impeded or prejudiced. For instance, when a publication reveals information that may not be admissible in evidence then it may carry a risk of influencing a jury in a criminal trial.

The Law Commission is an independent body established by statute to make recommendations to Government on improving the law.

The consultation the Commission is running will end November 8, 2024.

Recent Government of Canada Publications from the Weekly Acquisitions List

The Government of Canada's Weekly Acquisitions List can be a great way to discover new research reports published by various public bodies and agencies of the federal government. 

It is a record of all publications catalogued in the previous week.

Some of the documents in the most recent list include:

• Electronic records as documentary evidence (Canadian General Standards Board): "CAN/CGSB-72.34 specifies principles, methods, and practices for the creation (i.e. making, receipt, and capture) and management of all forms of electronic records (e.g. e-mail, cartographic, audio-visual, textual, multimedia, etc.) to support their admissibility [see admissibility (records), admissibility (rules), and weight (of evidence)] as evidences in legal proceedings. Because this standard provides only general legal, management and technical information, users should seek further advice before applying its recommendations to specific records or systems. This standard is harmonized with applicable federal, provincial and territorial acts in force and their pursuant regulation at the time of the Committee’s deliberations. Where differences exist between an act or a regulation and this standard, the former will prevail."
• Annual Report 2023-2024 (Communications Security Establishment): "Canada is facing new and evolving security threats, including climate change and its impacts on the Arctic, cybercrime, violent extremism, and threats from Russia, China, and other nation states to the international rules that keep us all safe. But the work CSE is doing across all aspects of its mandate plays a significant role in protecting Canada from these threats now and into the future. We are pleased to present this annual report, which details CSE’s record of success in combating cybercrime and the emerging threats facing Canada and the world. The report highlights to Canadians what CSE has done over the past year. Reports like these are vital for an open and accountable government and help build public faith in our institutions."
• Special Bulletin on financial activity associated with suspected sanctions evasion (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada): "Under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (the Act), the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) produces strategic intelligence to provide analytical perspectives on the nature and scope of money laundering, terrorist activity financing, the financing of threats to the security of Canada, and sanctions evasion. This Special Bulletin provides background information relevant to Canada’s sanctions regime and aims to inform reporting entities on the characteristics of completed or attempted financial transactions related to suspected sanctions evasion to support their ability to meet expanded obligations under the Act, effective August 19, 2024."
• RECALL TO REIMAGINE: (Re)Creating the Law Commission of Canada (Law Commission of Canada): "The spring of 2023 marked a fresh start for the Law Commission of Canada, an independent federal agency mandated with the study, review, and development of Canada’s law and legal systems in ways responsive to changing needs across this country. Active from 1997- 2006, the Commission reemerged from a 17-year hibernation (...) In this paper, the Law Commission of Canada demonstrates its commitment to learning from the past by drawing guidance and insights from the structure and work of its earlier version. As suggested by the paper’s title, recreating the Law Commission of Canada relies on imagination grounded in recall. The directives that frame Part I — “recall, remember and retell” — invite us to look back to the Law Commission of 1997-2006. Those of Part II — “rebuild, resituate, reimagine” — capture the mission and promise of today’s Law Commission. The work of recall should provide foundations to inspire and shape reimagined projects and potential."

New South Wales Law Reform Commission Paper on Racial and Religious Vilification

The Law Reform Commission in the Australian state of New South Wales has issued a so-called options paper on serious racial and religious vilification.

It is part of a consultation on the effectiveness of section 93Z of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) in addressing serious racial and religious vilification in the state. 

The paper briefly outlines some of the options for reform of s 93Z.

That section makes it an offence for a person, by public act, to intentionally or recklessly threaten or incite violence towards another person or a group of persons on any of the following grounds: race; religious belief or affiliation; sexual orientation; gender identity; intersex status; or HIV or AIDS status.

British Columbia Law Institute Report on Artificial Intelligence and Civil Liability

The British Columbia Law Institute recently published a Report on Artificial Intelligence and Civil Liability that explains how the current law of tort needs adapting to new realities.

Artificial intelligence raises complex issues when it comes to assigning liability for harm to humans, to their property or to other interests.

The report comes out against assigning strict liability for harms produced by artificial intelligence. Under strict liability, there is no need to prove fault on the part of a defendant. Only causation and damage need to be proven.

The authors prefer adapting ideas relating to product liability (p.44):

"The Project Committee considers that product liability law in the common law Canadian jurisdictions provides some answers regarding a just and balanced theory of liability while avoiding the difficulties of the other approaches discussed above. The principles concerning duty of care under product liability law may be applied by analogy to cases involving artificial intelligence without the need to take a definitive position on whether artificial intelligence itself may be characterized as a product."

"We would look to product liability law in regard to the liability of potential defendants situated “upstream” in the chain of events leading to litigation. Upstream defendants would be those involved in the design, development, training and testing of artificial intelligence systems prior to the point at which the systems are placed on the market or deployed in actual use. The liability of “downstream”  defendants, namely operators and other end-users, involves different considerations and is discussed later."

"A developer of a complete system that employs artificial intelligence may be realistically compared to a manufacturer of a complex product with numerous integrated components (...)"

"Product liability law recognizes a duty of care on the part of manufacturers and others who place a product in the stream of commerce towards anyone who may reasonably be foreseen to be at risk of damage or injury if the product is unsafe, not only towards those who acquire the product or who deal in some manner with the manufacturer."

New British Columbia Law Institute Primers on Indigenous Law

This is a follow-up to the post from August 21, 2023 called British Columbia Law Institute Primers on Indigenous Law.

The British Columbia Law Institute (BCLI) has been publishing information on the province's adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

Since last August, the BCLI has published 3 new primers as part of its series on how to bring the laws in into alignment with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

They are:

• Legal Pluralism in Canada
• Legal Pluralism: Indigenous Legal Orders & Other State Jurisdictions
• Legal Pluralism: Indigenous Legal Orders & Canadian State Law

Law Commission of Ontario Report on A New Environmental Bill of Rights for Ontario

The Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) has published A New Environmental Bill of Rights for Ontario: Final Report.

The report examines Ontario's existing Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR) and makes a series of major recommendations to enhance environmental accountability in the province.

The EBR was proclaimed in February 1994 and it introduced a number of mechanisms to improve public participation, transparency, and government accountability for environmental decision-making. 

The LCO concludes that the EBR has not always been meeting its stated objectives and needs updating.

The report's 58 recommendations for change are listed in Appendix A of the report.

Alberta Law Reform Institute Report on Alteration and Revocation of Electronic Wills

The Alberta Law Reform Institute (ALRI) has published its final report on the Alteration and Revocation of Electronic Wills.

This comes as a companion to the ALRI's 2023 report on the Creation of Electronic Wills.

"ALRI recommends that the alteration and revocation of electronic wills should be governed largely by the same rules currently found in Alberta’s Wills and Succession Act (“WSA”), with additional witness requirements for certain acts of revocation (...)"

"What is the problem?
Testators should be able to change or alter their electronic will after it has been created. Similarly, testators should be able to revoke an electronic will. However, electronic wills present a unique challenge. Unlike a pen mark on a paper will, it is harder to identify when an electronic will has been altered or revoked by a key stroke. It is also harder to identify whether or not the person making the changes actually intended them to alter or revoke their electronic will. To ensure the law properly supports people changing or revoking electronic wills, these issues must be adequately addressed. Additionally, the rules surrounding electronic wills should reflect the expectations of testators to ensure that the probate system continues to function justly and efficiently."

"Legal Research
ALRI conducted in-depth legal research for this project. That research included a review of the current wills law in Alberta, and comparative research with other jurisdictions. The review of Alberta law provided ALRI with a background on the formalities required to alter or revoke a paper will under the WSA, and the purposes those formalities serve. ALRI’s comparative research provided insight into how other jurisdictions have adopted formalities for the alteration or revocation of electronic wills that continue to serve these same four purposes. In both circumstances, the formalities for the alteration or revocation of a will are intended to:

• protect testators and their estates,
• provide evidence of testamentary intention,
• channel estates through probate justly and efficiently, and
• provide a sense of ritual to highlight the importance of changing or revoking a will."

Value of Law Reform Commissions

I like reports written by law reform commissions, whether here in Canada or from other jurisdictions.

As independent bodies, they often have the time to dive deep into an issue and look at its historical evolution and they often do a comparative analysis of what authorities in other countries have tried to do.

These organizations make recommendations to governments that can go a long way to improve access to justice, modernize the justice system, and reduce harm for vulnerable groups.

A few years ago, the Law Commission of England and Wales asked economists to try to quantify the benefits generated by the projects that it had undertaken over the years.

The Commission recently published an update:

"The report establishes that the Law Commission’s projects make a difference in myriad ways: efficiency gains, technology driven growth, harm prevention, well-being improvement, rule of law, access to justice, modernising the legal system and thought leadership (...) The estimated economic gains from the five highest value projects completed since 2019 is about £670 million over 10 years."

The projects include new rules on surrogacy, confiscation of the proceeds of crime, simplifying the rules for marriage, simplification of immigration rules, and anti-money laundering changes.

English Law Commission Consultation on Digital Assets in Private International Law

The Law Commission in England has launched a short consultation exercise on proposed legislation on digital assets and electronic trade documents.

A summary of the Commission's work on the issue can be found on the project's page:

"The UK Government asked the Law Commission to make recommendations for reform to ensure that the law is capable of accommodating both crypto-tokens and other digital assets in a way which allows the possibilities of this type of technology to flourish."

"In our final report, we conclude that the common law system in England and Wales is well placed to provide a coherent and globally relevant regime for existing and new types of digital asset."

"We conclude that the flexibility of common law allows for the recognition of a distinct category of personal property that can better recognise, accommodate and protect the unique features of certain digital assets (including crypto-tokens and cryptoassets). We recommend legislation to confirm the existence of this category and remove any uncertainty. On 22 February 2024 we published a short consultation on draft clauses which would implement this recommendation."

"To ensure that courts can respond sensitively to the complexity of emerging technology and apply the law to new fact patterns involving that technology, we recommend that Government create a panel of industry experts who can provide guidance on technical and legal issues relating to digital assets."

"We also make recommendations to provide market participants with legal tools that do not yet exist in England and Wales, such as new ways to take security over crypto-tokens and tokenised securities."

Nova Scotia Law Reform Report on Parentage in the Context of Surrogacy and Sperm, Egg and Embryo Donation

The Access to Justice & Law Reform Institute of Nova Scotia has published its final report on Extending Legal Parentage in the Context of Surrogacy, and Sperm, Egg, and Embryo Donation.

From the Executive Summary:

"This Final Report makes recommendations on how Nova Scotian law should identify a child’s parents when the child is conceived via assisted reproduction (sperm, egg and embryo donation and/or surrogacy). This status is known as legal parentage. While subject to change through formal legal processes such as adoption, for most people legal parentage is an automatic and immutable status upon which their identity is built. For children, parentage legally situates them in the world. Rights based on kinship, such as inheritance, also flow via parentage. For parents, legal parentage provides the immediate presumptive status from which they are given standing to provide the parenting, care and support of children."

"In light of this foundational role, it is vital for legal parentage to reflect the social landscape within which Nova Scotians live, and the various ways families are created. It is also critical that parentage laws be accessible, understandable, and non-discriminatory. This need is most immediate in the context of surrogacy and assisted reproduction. Nova Scotia’s current approach to these families may give rise to discrimination under both the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act."

"Nova Scotia is the only jurisdiction in Canada that lacks parentage legislation. At present, our parentage laws are based on two archaic common law presumptions: the woman who gives birth to a child is that child’s mother, and her husband is the father. Mechanisms to prove (or disprove) parentage outside of these presumptions are largely based on biology proved by genetic testing."

"There are a number of overarching problems with this outdated regime. First, it does not recognize all families living in Nova Scotia today. Many people have children outside of these constraints, including members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. At present, people outside the scope of Nova Scotia’s parentage laws must either formally adopt their own child or ask the Registrar of Vital Statistics to be listed on birth registry documents. The expense, uncertainty, and intrusiveness of asking people to adopt their own children undermines family autonomy and devalues certain family forms (...)"

"Second, existing rules fail to account for parentage in cases of assisted reproduction. Canadians are increasingly using sperm, egg and embryo donation to have children. These technologies separate the link between biology and parentage in a way that is not contemplated by our law. This puts parents who use donated reproductive material in a precarious situation vis-à-vis their children and jeopardizes the substantive legal rights that flow from kinship to children."

"Third, existing mechanisms to account for children born via surrogacy are onerous and outdated. While Nova Scotia does have a method to recognize parents via surrogacy, at the time of writing, these laws arguably place a great deal of risk with the surrogate, exclude parties who lack viable genetic material, and mandate judicial oversight in every case (...)"

"The Institute takes the position that, as social and cultural understandings of parentage change, so too should the law’s response. This Report addresses some of the longstanding gaps in Nova Scotia’s parentage law and seeks to bring the law in line with modern realities of family creation in our Province. "

British Columbia Law Institute Consultation Paper on Parentage

The British Columbia Law Institute (BCLI) has issued a Consultation Paper on Parentage: A Review of Part 3 of the Family Law Act.

The BCLI is a not-for-profit law reform agency based in Vancouver.

From the Executive Summary:

"Conclusively determining who a child’s parents are is an important part of family law. Parentage is the foundation of many aspects of a child’s identity, such as family name and relationships, nationality, and cultural heritage. Parentage can also determine important legal rights and responsibilities, such as a  child’s inheritance rights."

"In British Columbia, parentage is determined by rules set out in part 3 of the Family Law Act. Part 3 is  the first comprehensive legal framework for parentage in British Columbia legislation. It has rules that govern the parentage of children conceived by sexual intercourse. It also applies to children conceived by assisted human reproduction, that is for example, with the assistance of a sperm, egg, or embryo donor, or a surrogate."

"Part 3 addresses the legal consequences for parentage of the use of assisted human reproduction after a person’s death. And it has a provision empowering the court to make an order declaring a person to be (or not to be) a parent, in cases involving disputes over a child’s parentage or any uncertainty about it."

"Part 3 has been in force for a little longer than 10 years. Now is a good time to take stock about how its rules have been working out in practice."

"This consultation paper is a full-scale review of part 3. While it finds that part 3 generally provides BC with a suitable legal framework for parentage, there is also room for improvement. "

The BCLI will be accepting comments on its paper until March 31, 2024.

A final report should be ready later in the year with proposals for reform.

New Book Gives Insider's View of Law Reform Commission Work

The Law Commission of England has published a new book, Inside Modern Law Reform, that provides an insider's point of view of the history of the Commission and how it carries out its work to make laws more relevant, modern and fair.

From the brief description on the Commission website:

"As well as describing the history and process of law reform, the book outlines the wide-ranging social and economic benefits it provides, the importance of an independent Law Commission, the unique work it does in Wales, its international relationships, and the opportunities they offer to enrich the Commission’s work."

"While the level of detail provided in the book may be of more interest to those who are already familiar with the work of a law reform body, nonetheless the Commission hopes that the work will be of interest to a more general audience. Above all, the work is aimed at all those who share a concern for good law reform both nationally and internationally."

"The Commission is indebted to the many thousands of individuals and organisations who have contributed so fully and generously to its law reform projects over the decades and from whom it has learned and continues to learn. It is because of these contributions that it has been able to build up the wide-ranging experience of law reform described in this book."

The book is available for free in PDF format.

Alberta Law Reform Institute Report on Electronic Wills

The Alberta Law Reform Institute (ALRI) has published its final report on the Creation of Electronic Wills:

"ALRI conducted extensive consultations with the public and estate planning professionals to assess what people expected from the law when making their will. ALRI heard from over 400 members of the public and held in-depth roundtable consultations with trusted estate planning practitioners from across the province. Our consultation results confirm that people want to be able to create wills using electronic tools."

"ALRI recommends that electronic wills should be permitted in Alberta. The formalities for electronic wills should mirror the formalities for paper wills, but they should be accomplished in electronic form. In other words, electronic wills should be:

• Readable as electronic text,
• Signed by the testator, using an electronic signature, and,
• Signed by two witnesses, who are both present at the same time, using an electronic signature."

"Final Report 119 also makes recommendations regarding remote witnessing, electronic holograph wills, video formats and the dispensing power. These recommendations aim to bring certainty, predictability, and accessibility to the law, while embracing technological advancements and maintaining the integrity and security of the testamentary process."