Today, in the legislature, the Honourable Niki Sharma Attorney General rose in the House to move first reading of Bill 21.
The Bill is designed to modernize the regulation of Notaries Public and Lawyers and to provide for the licensing of regulated paralegals. Whereas the proposed bill will result in the amalgamation of the Society of Notaries Public of BC and the Law Society of BC, the Bill also has significant safeguards built in to protect client solicitor privilege and the independence of lawyers.
For example, under the current Legal Profession Act, the Attorney General is a Bencher (a director on the Board of the Law Society). Under the proposal, the direct appointment of an elected politician who is also the chief legal officer of the Province is not appointed to the Board.
The independence of lawyers to advocate for clients is not interfered with and in fact may be strengthened.
For almost 100 years, common law Notaries Public have provided legal services directly to the public and we welcome the recognition and regulation of other competent qualified legal professionals to increase access to justice and provide legal advice to so many people who need it.
Importantly for Notaries, the new legislation, once passed, will provide much needed updates to the regulatory framework. The Notaries Act has not been substantially updated for close to 50 years.
John Mayr
Executive Director
