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Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of British Columbia is the province's superior trial court. The Supreme Court is a court of general and inherent jurisdiction which means that it can hear any type of case, civil or criminal. It hears most appeals from the Provincial Court in civil and criminal cases and appeals from arbitrations. A party may appeal a decision of the Supreme Court to the Court of Appeal.
The Supreme Court Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 443, provides for a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, an Associate Chief Justice, and 95 other judges. The legislation also provides for supernumerary judges who sit hearing cases part-time. There are also 13 Supreme Court associate judges who hear and dispose of a wide variety of applications in chambers. The Supreme Court also has a Registrar who hears assessments relating to bills of costs, reviews lawyers' accounts, settles orders, references of various types and deals with bankruptcy discharge applications.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
December 15, 2025
ONLINE BOOKING FOR CIVIL AND FAMILY LONG CHAMBERS HEARINGS
Beginning January 1, 2026, civil and family long chambers hearings will be booked online using the Court Online Booking System (COBS) in all court locations.
Because demand for newly released lengthy chambers hearing dates exceeds the Court's supply in some locations, parties and counsel currently compete to secure such dates by telephoning Scheduling at their earliest opportunity on a specified day each month. Scheduling then allocates the newly released dates on a "first to call" basis.
The new online booking system will create two booking processes - a 'booking window' process for allocating newly released hearing dates, and an 'on-demand' booking system. Some court locations will use both processes, while others will use only the 'on-demand' booking system.
In specified court locations, including those where demand exceeds supply, parties and counsel will submit their preferred dates during a booking window (1st to the 7th of each month). After the booking window closes, court time will be allocated so that all users have an equitable opportunity to secure dates. Unsuccessful booking requests will be tracked, and priority assigned to the user's next request. The Court will monitor the use of this priority system.
As January 2026 is the first month with online bookings for long chambers hearings, the booking window will be extended to January 1st - 14th, to ensure that all users are aware, and have sufficient time to utilize, the new 'booking window' process.
For more details about this expansion, please see the notice issued by Chief Justice Skolrood. More information about COBS and its expansion is available here.
November 24, 2025
RULES COMMITTEE - REVIEW OF COSTS REGIME FOR CIVIL MATTERS
The Supreme Court Civil and Family Rules Committee, which provides advice and makes recommendations to the Attorney General about proposed amendments to the Rules, is reviewing the civil tariff (Supreme Court Civil Rules, Appendix B: Party and Party Costs) and consulting about proposed reforms. Information about the consultation, and the consultation paper, are available on the Rules Committee's website, here: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/justice/about-bcs-justice-system/sc-rules-committee.
November 17, 2025
JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS - JUSTICE KOTURBASH, JUSTICE LACHANCE, JUSTICE GIBSON, and JUSTICE SAUNDERS
The Supreme Court of British Columbia welcomes the appointments of the Honourable Justice Gregory W. Koturbash to Kelowna, the Honourable Justice Lorne D. Lachance to New Westminster and the Honourable Justice Julie K. Gibson and the Honourable Kate Saunders to Victoria. For more information about the new appointments, please see the press release issued by the Department of Justice. The Court will hold public welcoming ceremonies for the new justices; details about the dates and locations will be posted on the court's website.
August 18, 2025
ASSOCIATE JUDGES CHAMBERS PILOT PROJECT - EXPANSION AND NEW PRACTICE DIRECTION 68
Chief Justice Skolrood has issued new Practice Direction 68 - Associate Judges Chambers Pilot Project, which provides a means for parties to submit chambers application records electronically for some matters using Court Services Online ("CSO"). Practice Direction 68, which comes into effect on September 8, 2025, provides for the expansion of the Associate Judges Chambers Pilot Project to allow applications under 30 minutes to be scheduled before an associate judge in chambers where all litigants will appear by video using Microsoft Teams, by default. Initially, the expansion will include proceedings in all registries other than the Vancouver and New Westminster registries, including those without a resident associate judge.
Chief Justice Skolrood has also updated the Associate Judges Chambers Pilot Project Notice to the Profession, the Public and the Media Regarding Civil and Family Proceedings. These changes also come into effect on September 8, 2025. Please refer to the Associate Judges Chambers Pilot Project page for more information.
The Court encourages the public and the bar to participate in projects piloting technological advancements in the courtroom setting as the new processes need to be utilized to effect improvements, but also to justify the continued funding of such work if it is of interest.