About Learning about the Law: Expanded Edition
Learning about the Law for Newcomers from People's Law School provides information for newcomers to Canada about the laws in British Columbia and Canada.
We tried to keep the language easy, but some parts may still be hard. The words that are in italics are defined in the section, What the Words Mean.
Be sure to use the information in the section Find Out More at the end of the publication. It refers you to a wide range of resources that will answer your questions and provide help if you have a legal problem.
This publication brings together into one volume several People's Law School booklets:
- Learning about the Law: Fundamentals of Law, Criminal Law, Civil Law
- Learning about the Law: Family Law, Young People and the Law, Older People and Elder Law
- Learning about the Law: Working in BC, Renting a Home
- Consumer Law Wikibook
- Driving in BC
- Paying Taxes in BC
- Workplace Bullying and Harassment
Learning about the Law for Newcomers © People’s Law School is, except for the images, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada Licence. This licence lets others share, reuse, remix, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as they credit the copyright holder and license their new creations under the identical terms. You cannot reproduce the images without permission of shutterstock.com.
This publication contains readings that form part of lesson modules for English language classes for newcomers to Canada and British Columbia. The Law-Related ESL Lessons are available online at wiki.clicklaw.bc.ca. Instructors will find lesson modules on legal topics that affect newcomers, including downloadable instructional packages at varying Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) levels, together with assessment tools. The lessons are considered samples and instructors are encouraged to modify the lessons to meet the needs of their English as a second language learners.
Acknowledgements
- Content contributors: Gayla Reid, Diane Rodgers, Lou Cruz, Andrew Sakamoto
- Legal reviewers: Aman Sanghera, Nighat Afsar, Kristine Chew, Martha Jane Lewis
- ESL reviewers: Harvinder Dhariwal, Randy Keats, Bachan Rai
- Publications coordinator: Terresa Augustine
- Technical support: Courthouse Libraries BC and People's Law School
- Publisher: People's Law School
The People's Law School acknowledges the contribution of The Justice Education Society in the earlier versions of Learning about the Law. The explanation of getting legal help in the section on criminal law is based on the Legal Services Society booklet, If You Are Charged with a Crime. The section on family law is based on Legal Services Society booklet, Living Together or Living Apart. You can read this free booklet on the Family Law in BC website. The section is also based on the Legal Services Society publication Guide to the New BC Family Law Act on the Family Law in BC website. BC's Legal Services Society holds the copyright to all information on their site. None of its material may be commercially reproduced, but copying for other purposes, with credit, is encouraged.
This project is made possible through funding from the Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia.
For more information on learning about the law, public legal education events or referral services, visit publiclegaled.bc.ca or contact contact the People's Law School at 604-331-5400.
The People’s Law School operates with an annual budget to keep publications up-to-date. Booklets are available in print and online formats as funding permits. Please check our website for resource availability.
The responsibility for using and interpreting this information is with the user.
The People's Law School
The People's Law School is a non-profit charitable society whose purpose is to provide British Columbians with reliable information about their rights and responsibilities under the law.
- Suite 150 - 900 Howe Street
- Vancouver, BC V6Z 2M4
- Telephone: 604-331-5400
- Email: info@publiclegaled.bc.ca
- Website: www.publiclegaled.bc.ca