The Lawyers Weekly
May 16, 2003
By Gary Oakes
Victoria
 Joe Arvay: "It's time for the government to do the right thing and follow the order of the courts." |
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has declared the common law bar to same-sex marriages unconstitutional and given the federal and provincial governments until July 12, 2004, "to review and revise legislation to bring it into accord with this decision."
The court granted a declaration "that the common law bar against same-sex marriage is of no force or effect because it violates [equality] rights and freedoms guaranteed by s. 15 of the Charter and does not constitute a reasonable and demonstrably justified limit on those rights and freedoms within the meaning of s. 1."
Justice Jo-Ann Prowse,