Prepared on behalf of Watershed Watch Salmon Society (WWSS), a new ELC guide empowers citizens interested in protecting and defending the environment. A Citizen’s and Lawyer’s Guide to Private Prosecutions in British Columbia explains how individuals can use private prosecutions as a tool to prompt action and obtain accountability for environmental harms that might otherwise go unchecked.
Anyone who believes on reasonable grounds that an offence has been committed can initiate a private prosecution. The process is not used very often because it is not well known and has a reputation for being difficult to conduct to completion.
Private prosecution cases must be properly prepared – and most are not. The Guide is intended to help address that issue. It provides step-by-step, practical guidance about the key considerations involved in bringing high-quality private prosecutions that meet or exceed the standard expected of public prosecutors. From how to gather the evidence to prove an offence to discussing legal principles, the Guide is intended for clients to use with their lawyers to tackle private prosecutions as a team.
In addition to holding government and industry accountable, private prosecutions can be helpful to draw public and government attention to an environmental issue and prompt action. Case summaries in the Guide illustrate how private prosecutions have led to policy and legislative reform, funding allocations, or the federal or provincial governments taking over the case (rather than quashing it). The case studies also highlight how private prosecutions can bring much needed public awareness to an issue. Even where a private prosecution is unsuccessful, the mere act of laying charges can draw significant public attention to the government’s failure to enforce the law, and spur investigation or prosecution where none would have otherwise occurred.
WWSS plans to conduct online public workshops about the guide in the New Year to encourage its use by citizens, organizations and their lawyers to initiate private prosecutions as a tool for environmental protection.
Lions Gate Bridge
One of the case studies in the Guide includes the two private prosecutions Georgia Strait Alliance (GSA) brought against the Province of British Columbia and the Greater Vancouver Regional District involving the Lions Gate and Iona sewage treatment plants, which were discharging sewage effluent into receiving waters in the Georgia Strait and Burrard Inlet. While both cases were stayed, GSA continued its strategy of media outreach and participated in outreach and public consultations, which ultimately led to changes in federal and provincial sewage treatment law and policy.