There are a number of organizations in British Columbia that provide legal information, services and advice to the public and the legal profession. The following organizations each maintain a website that provides information about the organization and its purpose along with other information that may be of assistance to you.


BC Courthouse Library Society
The BC Courthouse Library Society is the primary provider of legal information services to the legal community and the public of BC. They are based in Vancouver with 49 branches throughout the province. Highly skilled reference staff are available to provide research and training services in Vancouver and at their Level 1 branches in Kamloops, Kelowna, Nanaimo, New Westminster, Prince George, and Victoria. Service is also available by phone, fax, through their website, and by email.

Some of their free and fee-based services include:

• Searching legal databases
• Access to bills, statutes, regulations, case law, and texts
• Locating and noting up cases and legislation
• Access to all BCCLS electronic and print resources through a web-based catalogue
• Access to electronic and Internet resources on public computers in BCCLS libraries
• Website with legal links and research guides
• Print, scanning, fax, and email services

For more information, email bccls@bccls.bc.ca or call toll free in Western Canada 1.800.665.2570.

BC Justice Review Task Force
The Justice Review Task Force was established on the initiative of the Law Society of British Columbia, in March 2002. The objective of the Task Force is to identify a wide range of reform ideas and initiatives that may help make the justice system more responsive, accessible and cost-effective. To this end, the Task Force provides a forum for its participants to exchange information, engage in mutual consultation respecting proposed administrative, procedural or program changes, and coordinate initiatives where appropriate.

BC Supreme Court Self-Help Information Centre
The BC Supreme Court Self-Help Information Centre opened its doors to the public on April 18, 2005. Located in the Provincial Court building in downtown Vancouver, the centre contains extensive resources to help people who have a Supreme Court family or civil matter but don’t have a lawyer to represent them. The one-year pilot project offers a drop-in service where people can come to find the information they need to prepare their case for court or find alternatives to court.

The Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia
The Continuing Legal Education Society of BC (CLE) is the principal provider of continuing professional legal education to the BC legal community, with ongoing operations self-financed through the sale of books, courses, and electronic products. CLE conducts over 80 live courses for lawyers and legal support staff each year and is the largest BC-based publisher of reference and practice material for the legal profession with more than 300 titles in print. Having been in operation for over 30 years, the CLE name is well recognized in the BC legal community.

Juricert
Juricert is a unique initiative of the Law Society of BC.

The Law Courts Education Society of BC
The Law Courts Education Society of BC is a non-profit organization providing educational programs and services about the justice system in Canada and British Columbia. The Society helps the public understand how the justice system works and also helps those people working within the system to better understand the justice-related issues that different people in communities face.

The Law Foundation of British Columbia
British Columbia led the way in 1969 when it established the first Law Foundation in North America. Since then, almost every other jurisdiction in North America has followed BC's lead and established a Law Foundation. The Law Foundation of British Columbia is a non-profit foundation created by legislation to receive and distribute the interest on clients' funds held in lawyers' pooled trust accounts maintained in financial institutions.

The Law Society of British Columbia
The Law Society of British Columbia is the self-governing body for lawyers in BC. The primary responsibility of the Law Society under the provincial Legal Profession Act is to protect the public interest in the administration of justice. In fulfilling this responsibility the Law Society investigates complaints about lawyers where the lawyer may have breached the ethical and competence standards established by the Law Society. The Law Society also provides a wide variety of resources to lawyers in order to assist them in maintaining the high standards of ethical conduct and professional competence required by the Law Society. If you have a concern or complaint about a lawyer or wish to find out more about the legal profession in BC, visit www.lawsociety.bc.ca. For information on becoming a lawyer in BC, please contact the Law Society of British Columbia.

The Legal Services Society
The Legal Services Society (LSS) provides legal aid for people with low incomes in British Columbia. LSS services range from legal information and advice to legal representation. Created by the Legal Services Society Act in 1979, it is an independent, non-profit organization managed by a nine-member board of directors. To provide legal services to people who cannot afford a lawyer, LSS operates seven Regional Centres and a province-wide, toll-free call centre, and funds local agents across the province. Legal aid is provided by lawyers working in LSS offices or by lawyers in private practice on a referral basis. LSS is funded by the provincial government, the Law Foundation, the Notary Foundation and the federal government through federal cost-sharing programs. Please see the LSS website for access to information about legal aid in BC, for LSS publications and Web-based services.

Pro Bono Law of BC
Pro Bono Law of BC was formed in April 2002 to promote, coordinate, and facilitate the delivery of pro bono legal services in BC.

The University of British Columbia
The Law Library is part of the UBC Library System, and is located on three floors in the Faculty of Law complex. It supports the study, reference, and research needs of the students and faculty of the Faculty of Law, and other members of the university community. As well, any person may use library resources for study and research in the library.

The Law Library has a research collection of approximately 215,000 volumes. Primary and secondary legal materials are acquired from the major common law jurisdictions of the world: Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, as well as materials from other selected jurisdictions such as the European Community and the Pacific Rim. While the emphasis is on English language materials from common law jurisdictions, civil law materials from Quebec, in both English and French are collected, as well as comparative and international law materials.

The University of Victoria
The University of Victoria Diana M Priestly Law Library has a well chosen collection of over 170,000 books and over 250,000 microform items, federal and provincial parliamentary and legislative materials, as well access to online, cdrom and internet services in its computer lab.

Typescripts of reasons of the British Columbia Court of Appeal (from 1974) and the Supreme Court of British Columbia (from 1971) and the County Court (from 1977-1990) are housed in the library.

Jurisdictions represented in the collection are Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. International materials include treaties and reports of cases. The collection also includes a selection of legal material for the European Union and the Asia-Pacific region.