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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
January 26, 2026
NOTICE TO PROFESSION RE: ASSIGNMENT OF s. 551.1 CASE MANAGEMENT JUDGES FOR CRIMINAL PRE-TRIAL APPLICATIONS AND VOIR DIRES
A Notice has been issued regarding the assignment of case management judges in criminal proceedings. Please review the Notice on the Criminal Practice Directions page, or by clicking here.
January 19, 2026
RESCISSION OF FAMILY PRACTICE DIRECTION 10 (STANDARD DIRECTIONS FOR APPEALS FROM PROVINCIAL COURT - FAMILY LAW ACT)
A number of amendments to the Supreme Court Family Rules and Supreme Court Civil Rules take effect on January 19, 2026 pursuant to
OIC No. 432-2025.
Please be advised that Chief Justice Skolrood has rescinded Family Practice Direction 10, which provided standard directions governing
the conduct of an appeal under section 233 of the Family Law Act. Directions respecting such an appeal are now incorporated into Rule 1
8-3 of the Supreme Court Family Rules. For more information, please see the attached notice.
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.