Briefing notes for BC Election Candidates: The 2024 Legal Professions Act (“Bill 21”) violates British Columbia’s international law obligations
25/09/2024
Full PDF Briefing Notes on Bill 21 for BC Election Candidates 2024 Briefing Notes on Bill 21, “Legal Professions Act.” Catherine Morris, JD, LLM Past Executive Director and current UN Representative for Lawyers Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) 25 September 2024 The 2024 Legal Professions Act … [Read more...]
A seismic shift in regulation of BC lawyers: A case study in the failure of democratic law-making | Article
09/08/2024
Full pdf version of the article Also see LRWC's advocacy on the independence of the legal profession in BC A seismic shift in regulation of BC lawyers: A case study in the failure of democratic law-making By Catherine Morris[*] Published by Slaw: Canada's online legal magazine, 24 … [Read more...]
2024 Colombian Caravana – Your Support Needed!
04/07/2024
DONATE AT THIS LINK: Donate to LRWC’s VIII Caravana fund through Canada Helps Support LRWC Board Member Heather Neun’s Participation in VIII Colombian Caravana 24/06/2024 DONATE AT THIS LINK: Donate to LRWC’s VIII Caravana fund through Canada Helps Colombia remains the most dangerous … [Read more...]
Open Letter: Premier David Eby Stop the criminalization of Wet’suwet’en land defenders!
03/07/2024
Full PDF joint open letter [EN] | [FR] Wet’suwet’en land defenders, under the governance of the Wet’suwet’en Nation’s Hereditary Chiefs, oppose the construction of a natural gas pipeline by the Canadian-based company Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. (CGL), owned by TC Energy Corporation. This … [Read more...]
Alex Neve: A call for Canadian support for the ICC’s work with respect to Palestine/Israel
03/06/2024
Republished with permission of the author, Alex Neve, 29 May 2024 I am honoured to be among 375 Canadian law professors, lawyers, legal scholars, academics, civil society, faith and labour movement leaders, and former diplomats and parliamentarians, who have written the following Open Letter to the … [Read more...]
Interview with Reinaldo Villalba on the “historic” ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the “CAJAR v. Colombia” case
28/05/2024
Reposted with permission from the International Observatory of Lawyers at Risk On 18 March 2024, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a “historic” ruling in the “Case of the members of the Lawyers’ Corporation ‘José Alvear Restrepo’ v. Colombia”. The Observatory was very pleased to … [Read more...]
Joint Statement: BC Government Must Withdraw Bill 21 (Legal Professions Act)
16/05/2024
Canada: British Columbia government’s sweeping changes to the legal profession undermine the international human rights and the rule of law Full PDF Version Statement 15 May 2024 The undersigned are deeply concerned by sweeping changes to the legal profession proposed by the government of … [Read more...]
BC, Canada: Bill 21 “Legal Professions Act” is fundamentally flawed and should be withdrawn. Why? | Briefing Notes
24/04/2024
Full PDF briefing notes on Bill 21 (3 pages) | See more on Bill 21 Briefing Notes on Bill 21, “Legal Professions Act.” Catherine Morris, member and former Executive Director, Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada 23 April 2024 Bill 21 “Legal Professions Act” is fundamentally flawed and should be … [Read more...]
British Columbia, Canada: Analysis of Bill 21 shows clear violation of international law and standards on independence of lawyers
17/04/2024
Full pdf 17 April 2024 briefing paper (16 pages) | Full 17 April 2024 pdf letter to Attorney General of BC (AGBC) | Media release .pdf See briefing notes (3 pages) Also see LRWC's 12 April 2024 pdf letter | Letter 10 April 2024 | Brief 10 April 2024 | 10 April 2024 press release | LRWC … [Read more...]
Ten years after his arbitrary arrest, NGOs call for Waleed Abu al-Khair to be released
15/04/2024
Monday, 15 April 2024 marks the tenth anniversary of the arrest of Saudi human rights defender Waleed Abu al-Khair, who is serving a 15-year prison sentence as a result of his peaceful human rights activism. He has repeatedly been ill-treated in prison, including being denied vital medical care. The … [Read more...]
