CBABC’s Dial-A-Law Scripts come to Clicklaw Wikibooks

New on Clicklaw

Clicklaw, Courthouse Libraries BC (CLBC) and LawMatters are very pleased to let the public and legal information community know that the Canadian Bar Association BC Branch’s long-serving Dial-A-Law scripts are now on Clicklaw Wikibooks. They join a growing library of content from other key producers of 500px-Dial-A-Law_cover_imagepublic legal information, including People’s Law School, TRAC, BC CEAS and others including some authors CLBC helped to publish, such as Cliff Thorstenson and John-Paul Boyd. The collection of scripts will be printed in a 500+ page book to be shipped to public libraries in BC, at no cost to the libraries, in conjunction with the LawMatters program.

CLBC and CBABC announced this news by formal press release yesterday (April 14, 2015). It’s exciting since Dial-A-Law scripts are perhaps the longest-surviving example of the BC legal profession’s dedication to helping the public with free legal information. The scripts cover over 130 legal topics, and have existed in various formats for over 30 years. Dial-A-Law started in 1983 with help from the BC Law Foundation and its scripts have been edited by volunteer lawyers ever since. More information about the various ways you can access Dial-A-Law is on Clicklaw’s page for the service.

Yesterday’s announcement is significant because now the scripts are even more accessible. Clicklaw Wikibooks are all about keeping legal information in a single spot so that editors and lawyers can update it—this is one of the benefits of a Wikipedia-style platform—but letting the end user choose whether to print, read online, or otherwise export the content in a way that meets their needs. Users can download whole contents, or only portions, of Clicklaw Wikibook in PDF or EPUB. They can order a printed book for cost, or read it online.  Continue reading

New Fact Sheet on Refusing Health Care: What are my Rights?

Community posts

Early 2015 has been a year of landmark cases, about physician-assisted dying in the Supreme Court of Canada, in addition to the Margot Bentley decision at the BC Court of Appeal.

nidus_new

This fact sheet addresses the law in BC

Most of the information available online is academic and focuses on what this means for legislatures (law-makers), but these decisions have implications for Canadians, and people in British Columbia. Different changes to the law could be made across Canada and in each province.

A new fact sheet produced by Nidus answers questions of more interest to the everyday person living in BC, such as:

  • Can I refuse health care? (Yes, there is law in BC saying that if you are 19 years or older and are “capable of informed consent”, you have the right to make your own decisions about care.)
  • Can I request help with dying when I am ready? (The short answer is no, but watch for changes.)
  • If I am incapable, can someone refuse care on my behalf?
    • What are the legal documents that apply?
  • Can a doctor refuse to give me life-supporting care? (This can be a confusing area of the law.)
    • What is the No CPR (Do Not Resuscitate) form?
  •  Is there a Registry for my documents? (Yes.)

To read more about the law in BC that governs giving, refusing and withdrawing consent for health care, see the new fact sheet by Nidus directly on their website here, and through the Clicklaw website here along with their other resources.