The British Columbia Court of Appeal

Courts of law at once reflect and shape the society in which they reside and dispense justice. To mark the 2010 centenary of BC’s highest court – the British Columbia Court of Appeal – this book presents an institutional, jurisprudential, and biographical account of the court and its evolving role in the province. Surveying the court’s history from 1910 to the present, this authoritative history tells the story of how the court came into being, how it has operated, who its judges have been, and how it has shaped – and been shaped by – the social, political, and legal development of the province. Biographical sketches and group portraits of judges based on memoirs, interviews, and other written sources, along with careful explorations of significant and representative cases, help to define each period in the court’s past and reveal much about historical developments in British Columbia and changes in the court itself. Richly illustrated and engaging, this book is the first comprehensive history of a provincial appeal court and a much-needed addition to the judicial history of Canada. It provides material for comparative studies across Canada and raises questions for British Columbia legal historians to pursue and for scholars, judges, lawyers, and Canadians in general to ponder.