Assuming that you're using the BC Laws website, you may bump into a problem because of their decision to post the Family Law Act, the Supreme Court Family Rules and the Provincial Court Family Rules broken up into parts; CanLII has regrettably followed BC Laws' lead. Here's how you can create reliable links to the new act and the rules of court.
Family Law Act
If you cut-and-paste the address for s. 81 of the Family Law Act from the BC Laws website, this is what you'll get:
However, you can get the same result with this much shorter link:
The trick here is to know which part the section you want to link to is found and adjust the link address accordingly. The first part, "www.bclaws.ca/ EPLibraries/ bclaws_new/ document/ID/ freeside/11025_" is stable for all links to the act. The part you adjust is the last bit, "05#section81".
In this example, "05#section81" means part 5, section 81. If you wanted to link to s. 211 on needs of the child assessments, because s. 211 is in part 10 you would link to:
Likewise, to link to s. 15, which you'll find in part 2, the address you would use is:
Supreme Court Family Rules
The same basic idea applies for links to the Supreme Court Family Rules. If you cut-and-paste the address of SCFR 15-2.1(1) on the affidavits required for guardianship applications, this is what you'll get:
Ick. However, you can get the same result with this shorter link:
The first part, "www.bclaws.ca/ EPLibraries/ bclaws_new/ document/ID/ freeside/169_2009_", stays the same for all links to the SCFR. What changes is the last bit, "03#rule15-2.1subrule1". In this example "#rule15-2.1subrule1" means SCFR 15-2.1 and subrule (1) of that rule. Explaining the "03" is a little more complicated. BC Laws has published the SCFR in six bundles:
- Parts 1 to 9;
- Parts 10 to 14;
- Parts 15 to 23;
- Appendix A (court forms);
- Appendix B (costs awards); and,
- Appendix C (fees payable to the court and witnesses).
The "03", you see, comes from SCFR 15-2.1 being in the third bundle. Get it?
To take another example, if you wanted to link to SCFR 4-3 about when a reply to a Notice of Family Claim is due, you would use this link:
The last part, "01#rule4-3", refers to SCFR 4-3 which is found in the first bundle. If you wanted to get fancy and link to SCFR 4-3(2) specifically, you'd add "subrule2" to the end of the address:
Similary, to link to SCFR 11-3 on summary trials, because that rule is in the second bundle you'd link to:
Provincial Court Family Rules
The Provincial Court Family Rules are simpler because it is published in only two bundles; the complete rules are in the first bundle and the court forms are in the second bundle. The address of the PCFR is:
To link to a specific rule, turn "00" into "01", for the first bundle, and add "#rule" plus the number of the rule you want to link to. For example, to link to PCFR 7 on family case conferences you would use this address:
To link to PCFR 13(3) on the use of affidavits at hearings or trials, you'd use this address:
Wasn't that easy?
