Improving Access to the Law

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Jan. 9, 2013) - CanLII, Canada's foremost resource of freely available legal information, and BG Communications, a large Montreal-based multilingual translation agency, are pleased to announce their exclusive collaboration to ensure selected leading Canadian judgments are available in both of Canada's official languages.

CanLII, a non-profit organization overseen by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, makes Canadian law accessible for free on the Internet. Its website, www.CanLII.org, provides access to court judgments, tribunal decisions, statutes and regulations from all Canadian jurisdictions. CanLII publishes court rulings in the language in which they are received, so in most circumstances that means that when the court does not provide a translation, none is available to the general public.

"With over 2000 new decisions posted each week, it is not possible to translate everything", notes CanLII President Colin Lachance, "However, the legal community has highlighted a number of decisions that warrant wider availability in the other official language. We are very excited to work with BG Communications to make this happen."

Beginning in January 2013, the translation of leading selected legal judgments on the CanLII website will be entrusted to BG Communications. According to BG President Maryse Benhoff, "we are very proud to have the privilege to serve the legal community across Canada. Our company has come full circle from our humble beginnings in serving the legal field in Quebec to now serving the legal community across Canada."

Judgments selected for translation will be identified in consultation with the legal community. Relevant factors include national interest, substantive change in the law and practical application having regard to frequency of referral. The first judgment translated under this collaboration falls in the third category.

Boucher v. Public Accountants Council for the Province of Ontario, 2004 CanLII 14579 (ON CA); 71 OR (3d) 291; 188 OAC 201 is the leading Ontario case on fair and reasonable costs payable by an unsuccessful litigant. This 2004 decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal sets out principles that have recently been referenced by the Federal Court of Appeal and the Tax Court of Canada, and have been considered by Ontario courts over 800 times, including 135 times in 2012 alone. http://www.canlii.org/fr/on/onca/doc/2004/2004canlii14579/2004canlii14579.html

The CanLII-BG Communications partnership represents an important step in CanLII's efforts to build on its success in delivering free access of legal information by offering materials in both official languages.

CANLII

The Canadian Legal Information Institute was officially founded in 2001 by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. Funded by Canada's lawyers and notaries for the benefit of all, CanLII provides free access to legal information. In 2011, CanLII received nearly 7 million site visits and delivered over 81 million page views to users. According to a 2012 survey of Canadian lawyers and notaries, nearly 90% of lawyers have used CanLII within the past year; with 56% reporting that CanLII is the first place they turn to research Canadian case law. Now with over one million documents across over 200 collections, CanLII is closer than ever to achieving the dreams of its founders to become the best place for lawyers and all Canadians to consult Canadian law.

BG Communications

BG Communications is a large Montreal-based multilingual translation agency that services corporate linguistic needs across Canada and the U.S. BG Communications offers its expertise to an ever expanding list of clients in various industries. Regardless of the industry, the same level of accuracy, dedication and quality assurance is ensured by a team of highly experienced professionals.