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1998/99 Legislative Session: 3rd Session, 36th Parliament

FIRST READING

The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.

The printed version remains the official version.

HONOURABLE UJJAL DOSANJH

ATTORNEY GENERAL AND MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR

MULTICULTURALISM, HUMAN RIGHTS AND IMMIGRATION

BILL 66 – 1999

ATTORNEY GENERAL STATUTES

AMENDMENT ACT, 1999

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

Court of Appeal Act

1 The Court of Appeal Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 77, is amended by adding the

following section:

Powers after leaving office

4.1

(1) A justice who resigns his or her office,

is appointed to another court or ceases to hold office under

section 99 (2)

of the Constitution Act, 1867 , may, within 6 months after the

resignation, appointment or ceasing to hold office, give judgment in a proceeding

he or she heard while holding office, and the judgment is effective as though

he or she still held office.

(2) A justice who is appointed to another court may continue with

the hearing of any proceeding of which he or she was seized, and the jurisdiction to hear

the proceeding and give judgment is effective as though he or she still held office.

Section 18 is amended by adding the following subsection:

(4) A justice may dismiss as abandoned the appeal of an appellant

who fails to comply with an order made under subsection (1).

Section 23 is repealed and the following substituted:

Costs

23 Unless the court or a justice otherwise orders, the

party who is successful on an appeal is entitled to costs of the appeal including the

costs of all applications made in the appeal.

Court Order Enforcement Act

4 Sections 9 (4) and 13 (3) of the Court Order Enforcement Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c.

78, are amended by striking out "double" .

Creditor Assistance Act

Section 9 (1) of the Creditor Assistance Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 83, is amended

by striking out "creditor" and substituting "debtor" .

6 Sections 9 (3) (b), 10 and 11 (9) are amended by striking out "prepaid" .

Estate Administration Act

Section 47 of the Estate Administration Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 122, is

repealed.

Section 59 is amended

(

a) in subsection (2) by striking out "subsection (4)."

and substituting "subsection (6)." ,

(

b) in subsection (8) by striking out "subsection (4)"

and substituting "subsection (6)" ,

(

c) by repealing subsection (9),

(

d) by renumbering subsection (10) as subsection (9), and

(

e) by repealing subsection (11) and substituting the following:

(10) This section,

section 60 and

section 61 are subject

section 10 of the Workers Compensation Act , and nothing in this section,

section 60 or 61 prejudices or affects a right of action under

section 103 of

that Act or the Family Compensation Act .

9 The following

section is added:

Powers when legatee cannot be found or fails to claim specific

bequest

67.1

(1) This

section applies only if

(

a) the deceased died testate leaving a specific bequest of real

or personal property to a beneficiary, and

(

b) the will does not expressly exclude the operation of this

section.

(2) If the personal representative, after making all reasonable

efforts, is unable to locate the beneficiary within one year of the date of the grant of

letters probate or administration with will annexed, the personal representative may sell

the real or personal property, deduct any costs related to the storage, transportation and

sale of the property and hold the net proceeds in trust.

(3) If net proceeds under subsection (2) are held in trust by the

Public Trustee and a beneficiary does not make a claim to those proceeds within the time

period specified in the Unclaimed Money Act, the proceeds are deemed to be

unclaimed money deposits under that Act.

(4) If net proceeds under subsection (2) are held in trust by a

personal representative other than the Public Trustee, the personal representative must

promptly pay the proceeds into court after deducting the costs of doing so.

(5) If a beneficiary under an estate described in subsection

(1) has been located and notified of a specific bequest but neglects or refuses to make

arrangements to take delivery of the property within 6 months of the notification, the

personal representative may sell the real or personal property, deduct any costs related

to the storage, transportation and sale of the property and send the net proceeds to the

beneficiary.

(6) If a beneficiary described in subsection (5) does not accept

the net proceeds, the personal representative must hold the net proceeds in trust and

subsection (3) or (4) applies.

(7) This

section does not prevent an application by a

personal representative to the court under

section 39 of the Trustee Act

or under

section 3 of the Survivorship and Presumption of Death Act .

Section 75 (1) (

b) is repealed and the following substituted:

(

b) there is no trustee for the minor's interest in the estate, .

Evidence Act

Section 60 (

k) of the Evidence Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 124, is repealed.

12 The following

section is added:

Police forces

60.1 The following persons are commissioners for taking

affidavits for British Columbia only for the purposes of exercising the powers and

performing the duties of their office:

(

a) members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who are peace

officers and are located in British Columbia;

(

b) designated constables, provincial constables and municipal

constables as defined in the Police Act ;

(

c) other individuals or classes of individuals who are officers

as defined in the Police Act and who are designated by regulation of the Attorney

General for the purposes of this section.

Section 72 (2) (

a) is amended by renumbering the subparagraphs as (i), (ii)

and (iii) respectively.

14 The Supplement to the Evidence Act is repealed.

Interpretation Act

Section 11 of the

Interpretation Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 238, is repealed and

the following substituted:

Reference aids and clarifications

(1) In an enactment, a head note to a provision or a

reference after the end of a

section or other division

(

a) is not part of the enactment, and

(

b) must be considered to have been added editorially for

convenience of reference only.

(2) In an enactment, if a reference to a provision of the

enactment or any other enactment is followed by italicized text in square brackets that is

or purports to be descriptive of the subject matter of the provision, subsection (1) (

a) and (

b) applies to the text in square brackets.

(3) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations

amending an enactment for the purpose of changing a reference to a specific minister or

ministry in a provision of the enactment to the minister or ministry, as applicable,

currently assigned responsibility in relation to the matter.

Land Title Act

16 Sections 265 (

b) and (c), 266 (3) (

b) and (

c) and 269 (

a) of the Land Title

Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 250, is amended by striking out "(Canada)" .

Libel and Slander Act

17 Sections 7 (

e) and 8 (

b) of the Libel and Slander Act, R.S.B.C. 1996,

c. 263, are amended by striking out "mailed by registered letter"

and substituting "sent by registered mail" .

Section 12 (3) is amended by striking out "registered letter

containing the person's address" and substituting "letter

containing the person's address, sent by registered mail" , by striking out "mails

it by registered letter" and substituting "sends it by registered

mail" and by striking out "on which the registered letter"

and substituting "on which the letter" .

Limitation Act

Section 3 (6) of the Limitation Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 266, is amended by

striking out "the" after "limiting" .

Motion Picture Act

Section 2 (4) of the Motion Picture Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 314, is repealed

and the following substituted:

(4) Before a motion picture distributor distributes a motion

picture for the purpose of exhibition in a theatre, the motion picture distributor must

demonstrate, by means of a certificate or some other evidence of approval satisfactory to

the director, that the motion picture and all copies of it that are intended for

exhibition have been approved as described in subsection (2).

Motor Vehicle Act

Section 66 (3) of the Motor Vehicle Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 318, is

repealed.

Multilevel Marketing Regulation Act

22 The Multilevel Marketing Regulation Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 322, is

repealed.

Municipal Act

Section 6 of the Municipal Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 323, is repealed.

Police Act

Section 60.1 (8) of the Police Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 367, is amended

by striking out "double" .

Refugee Settlement Act

25 The Refugee Settlement Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 401, is repealed.

Trustee Act

Section 27 (2) (

c) of the Trustee Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 464, is amended by

striking out "but if only" and substituting "but,

except in a case in which only" .

Wills Act

Section 25 of the Wills Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 489, is amended by striking out

"if the testator" and substituting "if the testator

or other person" .

Young Offenders (British Columbia) Act

Section 7 of the Young Offenders (British Columbia) Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c.

494, is amended

(

a) in subsection (3) by striking out "section 92.1" and

substituting "section 100" , and

(

b) in subsection (4) by striking out "section 76" and

substituting "section 83" .

Commencement

(1) Sections 5, 8, 11 to 13, 16, 19 to 21 and 26 to 28

come into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.

(2) When brought into force by regulation, sections 5, 8, 13, 16,

19 and 26 to 28 are deemed to have come into force on April 21, 1997 and are retroactive

to the extent necessary to give them effect on and after that date.

Explanatory Notes

Court of Appeal Act

SECTION 1: [Court of Appeal Act, enacts

section 4.1] provides

for justices of the court who leave office to give judgments in proceedings they heard

while in office and to continue Court of Appeal proceedings of which they were seized even

though they have been appointed to another court.

SECTION 2: [Court of Appeal Act, adds

section 18 (4)] provides

for a single justice to make an order dismissing an appeal as abandoned if an appellant

fails to comply with an order made under

section 18 (1) of the Act.

SECTION 3: [Court of Appeal Act, re-enacts

section 23] re-enacts

the section.

Court Order Enforcement Act

SECTION 4: [Court Order Enforcement Act, amends sections 9 (4) and 13 (3)]

corrects anomalous references to registered mail.

Creditor Assistance Act

SECTION 5: [Creditor Assistance Act, amends

section 9 (1)] corrects a

statute revision error.

SECTION 6: [Creditor Assistance Act, amends sections 9, 10 and 11]

corrects anomalous references to registered mail.

Estate Administration Act

SECTION 7: [Estate Administration Act, repeals

section 47] repeals

the section.

SECTION 8: [Estate Administration Act, amends

section 59] corrects

statute revision errors.

SECTION 9: [Estate Administration Act, enacts

section 67.1] adds a

section that allows a personal representative to deal with specific bequests if the

beneficiary cannot be found or fails to claim the bequest.

SECTION 10: [Estate Administration Act, repeals and replaces

section 75 (1) (b)] clarifies the intent of the provision.

Evidence Act

SECTION 11: [Evidence Act, repeals

section 60 (k)] consequential

section 60.1 as enacted by

section 12 of this Bill.

SECTION 12: [Evidence Act, enacts

section 60.1] provides

for a wider group of police officers to act as commissioners for oaths but only in the

course of their employment.

SECTION 13: [Evidence Act, amends

section 72 (2) (a)] corrects

a statute revision error in the numbering of subparagraphs.

SECTION 14: [Evidence Act, repeals the Supplement] repeals

the Supplement.

Interpretation Act

SECTION 15: [Interpretation Act, re-enacts

section 11]

continues the effect of the current

section 11 as subsection (1);

by the proposed subsection (2), allows cross reference descriptions to be

added editorially, so that British Columbia laws will be more understandable

for readers;

by the proposed subsection (3), authorizes regulations updating references

to reflect the titles of current ministers and ministries, so that British

Columbia laws will not confuse readers by referring to a government organization

that no longer exists.

Land Title Act

SECTION 16: [Land Title Act, amends sections 265, 266 and 269] corrects

statute revision errors.

Libel and Slander Act

SECTION 17: [Libel and Slander Act, amends sections 7 (

e) and 8 (b)]

modernizes references to registered mail.

SECTION 18: [Libel and Slander Act, amends

section 12 (3)] modernizes the

reference to registered mail.

Limitation Act

SECTION 19: [Limitation Act, amends

section 3 (6)] corrects a statute

revision error.

Motion Picture Act

SECTION 20: [Motion Picture Act, repeals and replaces

section 2

(4)] amends the

section to provide a streamlined method of approval that does not

necessarily require physical attachment of the evidence of approval.

Motor Vehicle Act

SECTION 21: [Motor Vehicle Act, repeals

section 66 (3)] is

consequential to the enactment of similar powers for peace officers under new

section 60.1

of the Evidence Act.

Multilevel Marketing Regulation Act

SECTION 22: [Multilevel Marketing Act, repeals the Act] repeals

the Act.

Municipal Act

SECTION 23: [Municipal Act, repeals

section 6] is consequential to the

proposed

section 11 (2) of the

Interpretation Act, which would provide equivalent

cross referencing authority for all enactments, not just the Municipal Act.

Police Act

SECTION 24: [Police Act, amends

section 60.1 (8)] corrects an anomalous

reference to registered mail.

Refugee Settlement Act

SECTION 25: [Refugee Settlement Act, repeals the Act] repeals

the Act.

Trustee Act

SECTION 26: [Trustee Act, amends

section 27 (2) (c)] corrects a statute

revision error.

Wills Act

SECTION 27: [Wills Act, amends

section 25] corrects a statute revision

error.

Young Offenders (British Columbia) Act

SECTION 28: [Young Offenders (British Columbia) Act, amends

section 7]

corrects statute revision errors.

Copyright © 1999: Queen's Printer, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada