Sections 10 and 12 of the Statute Revision Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 440 states that the Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations to correct the following in any act or revision:
- errors of form
- errors of style
- numbering errors
- typographical errors
- reference errors
A list of correction regulations can be found under the Statute Revision Act in Part 4 of the Index of Current B.C. Regulations. Please note that Part 4 is published only in the March 31 issue of any given year. The Index of Current B.C. Regulations is available on www.bclaws.ca as well as in print in Vancouver, Victoria and some regional courthouse libraries.
For the correcting regulation to have lasting effect, it must be confirmed through an Act by the Legislature. The Index to Current B.C. Regulations will indicate if the regulation has been confirmed and by what Act. See, for example, the list of "corrections to the R.S.B.C. 1996" regulations under the Statute Revision Act in the March 31, 2018 edition of the Index:
Statute Revision Act
R.S.B.C. 1996, c.440
corrections to R.S.B.C. 1996: 169/97; 23/98; 130/98; 288/2000; 81/2001; 237/2011; 244/2013; 263/2014;
[169/97, 23/98 and 130/98 confirmed by 1998-19-1; 288/2000 not confirmed; 81/2001 confirmed by 2001-43-25; 237/2011 confirmed by 2012-18-93; 244/2013 confirmed by 2014-14-153; 263/2014 confirmed by 2015-23-43].
If a regulation is not confirmed by the Legislature, "corrections made by a regulation under this section cease to have effect after the last day of the next session of the Legislative Assembly after the regulation is made." In the example above, B.C. Reg. 288/2000, made in the 4th Session of the 36th Parliament, was not confirmed. The last day of the next session, the 5th Session of the 36th Parliament, was April 18, 2001. Therefore the corrections made by B.C. Reg. 288/2000 ceased to have effect on April 19, 2001.
Under section 2 of the Statute Revision Act, other changes can also be made to any statute during a revision. These changes include:
- combining or separating Acts or provisions of them;
- altering the numbering and the arrangement of Acts or provisions;
- renaming an Act or portion of an Act;
- altering language and punctuation to achieve a clear, consistent and gender neutral style;
- making minor amendments to clarify the intent of the Legislature, to reconcile inconsistent provisions or to correct grammatical or typographical errors.
These changes are not considered corrections to errors and therefore can be made without a regulation or amending Act. For this reason, changes to statutes under section 2 of the Statute Revision Act are not recorded.