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 90 other justices. The legislation also provides for supernumerary judges who sit hearing cases part-time. There are also 15 Supreme Court masters 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.

COVID-19 NOTICES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

NOTE: All notices are subject to change. Please refer to the Index for a list of the current notices as well as those that have been rescinded and replaced.


ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

March 1, 2021
FAMILY PRACTICE DIRECTIONS AND FAMILY LAW RESOURCES

Chief Justice Hinkson has issued two family practice directions:

The following family law resources have been updated and include changes to reflect the amendments to the Divorce Act:

 

March 1, 2021
JUDICIAL TRANSFERS

The Supreme Court of British Columbia announces the following judicial transfers occurred on February 1, 2021:

  • The Honourable Mr. Justice Punnett to Prince Rupert from Victoria
  • The Honourable Mr. Justice Saunders to Victoria from New Westminster
  • The Honourable Mr. Justice Dley to Abbotsford from Kamloops
  • The Honourable Mr. Justice Jenkins to Abbotsford from New Westminster
  • The Honourable Mr. Justice Caldwell to Abbotsford from New Westminster

 

February 25, 2021
DIVORCE ACT AMENDMENTS AND REVISED SUPREME COURT FAMILY FORMS

The new amendments to the Divorce Act take effect on March 1, 2021. Some changes to the Supreme Court Family Rules and Forms will also come into effect on March 1, 2021 to reflect the amendments to the Divorce Act. More information about the new forms will be available on the Ministry of Attorney General’s website: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/justice/courthouse-services/documents-forms-records/court-forms/sup-family-forms

Effective March 1, 2021, the Registry staff will only accept the new Supreme Court Family Forms.

 

February 19, 2021
SUPREME COURT LEGAL COUNSEL COMPETITION – PERMANENT PART-TIME POSITION - VICTORIA

The Supreme Court has an opening for legal counsel for a permanent, part-time position (3 days per week). The position is in Victoria. Details about this opportunity including a detailed job profile, job requirements, and instructions for submitting an application are available here. The closing date for the competition is Wednesday, March 3, 2021.

 

February 3, 2021
ABBOTSFORD LAW COURTS VIRTUAL OPENING

Please be advised that a virtual opening ceremony for the new Abbotsford Law Courts will be held on Thursday, February 4, 2021. The event will be streamed live here beginning at 12:30 p.m.

 

February 3, 2021
NOTICE TO THE PROFESSION RE GRACE PERIOD FOR ACCEPTANCE OF FORMER SUPREME COURT FAMILY FORMS

Chief Justice Hinkson has issued a Notice to the Profession, the Public and the Media which implements a grace period during which the Registry will accept former Supreme Court Family Forms or new Supreme Court Family Forms that were amended by Order in Council 26/2021 up to and including February 26, 2021. Effective March 1, 2021, Registry staff will no longer accept the former Forms and will only accept Supreme Court Family Forms as amended by Order in Council 467/2020 and Order in Council 26/2021.

 

January 29, 2021
OFFICE OF THE PROVINCIAL HEALTH OFFICER STATEMENT RELATED TO COVID-19 OUTBREAK AT THREE CORRECTIONAL CENTRES

The Office of the Provincial Health Officer has released a notice regarding the COVID-19 outbreaks at Surrey Pretrial Services Centre, North Fraser Pretrial Centre, and Fraser Regional Correctional Centre. For more information, please refer to the notice issued January 29, 2021.

 

January 21, 2021
PROTOCOL FOR COMMUNICATION AND TESTING RELATED TO COVID-19 IN COURTHOUSES

In light of concerns raised by the BC Courts, counsel and other courthouse users about the need for timely and coordinated communication about COVID-19 testing and exposures in courthouses, the three levels of Court and Court Services Branch met with senior health officials and have created a protocol that is now in effect with these main components: 

  1. A Public Health Guidance document for courthouses that is publicly posted on the BC Centre for Disease Control website:  

    http://www.bccdc.ca/Health-Info-Site/Documents/COVID_public_guidance/Guidance_Court_Settings.pdf

  2. The BC Centre for Disease Control has created a webpage where the following type of information will be posted about COVID-19 and courthouses: COVID-19 exposures at courthouses where a medical health officer of public health specialist has determined there is a risk of infection to others; incident investigations, notices and summaries related to potential COVID-19 clusters, outbreaks or group testing; and courthouse site inspections.

  3. Each Regional Health Authority will be responsible for courthouse COVID-19 incident investigations, response and timely communication with the courts, Court Services Branch and where appropriate the public, recognizing that the Health Authorities alone have the information about COVID-19 incidents, cases, exposures, clusters and outbreaks.

  4. If there is to be group testing at a courthouse, notice will be communicated by the Regional Health Authority to those court participants relevant to the investigation.

  5. Targeted access to COVID-19 testing for court participants in relation to anticipated or ongoing court proceedings where, for example, a court participant is experiencing COVID-19-like symptoms and testing is required to determine whether the court proceeding can continue as scheduled.

See the Protocol here.

We thank everyone for their ongoing efforts to support the Courts and the justice system through this extremely challenging time. The Courts are committed to remaining open and accessible, and have taken steps to ensure safety as noted on the following websites:

 

December 22, 2020
END OF SUSPENSION OF LIMITATION PERIODS

On December 21, 2020 the Provincial Government announced that the suspension of limitation periods is no longer linked to the duration of the state of emergency, and the suspension will end on March 25, 2021. For more information, see the Court’s amended COVID-19 Notice No. 34, here, and Order in Council 655/2020, here.

 

November 25, 2020
UPDATE: FACE MASKS OR FACE COVERINGS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA COURTHOUSES

Effective immediately, people attending courthouses in British Columbia are required to wear a face mask or face covering, including in entrances, lobbies, waiting areas, registries, hallways, stairways, restrooms and elevators. In addition, people are required to wear a face mask or face covering in courtrooms unless the presiding judge, justice, master or registrar directs otherwise.

Face masks or face coverings must be worn in a manner that cover a person’s nose and mouth. If you do not have a face mask or face covering, Sheriffs will provide one when you enter the courthouse. While wearing a face mask or face covering can reduce the spread of infection, it does not substitute for physical distancing, which must be maintained whenever possible. The requirement to wear a face mask or face covering does not apply:

  • to a child who is less than twelve years of age,
  • to a person who is unable to wear a face mask or face covering because of (i) a psychological, behavioural or health condition, or (ii) a physical, cognitive or mental impairment,
  • to a person who is unable to put on or remove a face mask or face covering without the assistance of another person,
  • if the face mask or face covering is removed temporarily for the purpose of identifying the person wearing it.

In addition, all people attending courthouses in British Columbia are asked to be familiar with all health and safety protocols and to cooperate in following them in order to protect everyone in courthouses in this province.

Click on the links below for more information regarding procedures when attending proceedings in each court:


Court of Appeal for British Columbia

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Provincial Court of British Columbia


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CURRENT COVID-19 NOTICES

 

March 2, 2021
COVID-19 NOTICE NO. 41 – AMENDMENTS TO THE SUPREME COURT CIVIL RULES - TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF CIVIL JURY TRIALS - UPDATED

Government has amended the Supreme Court Civil Rules to extend the temporary suspension of civil jury trials until October 7, 2022. Civil jury trials will resume on October 8, 2022. Beginning March 29, 2021, parties may file a notice requiring trial by jury for trials scheduled on or after October 8, 2022. For more information, see the Court’s notice about the suspension of civil jury trials, available here, and the order-in-council, available here.

 

March 2, 2021
REVISIONS TO COVID-19 NOTICE NO. 35 - EXPANSION OF COURT OPERATIONS - REMOTE VIDEO CONFERENCE HEARINGS

Effective March 2, 2021, COVID-19 Notice No. 35 has been revised to update information regarding media and public access to RVC hearings.

 

February 25, 2021
COVID-19 NOTICE NO. 42 - CHAMBERS APPLICATIONS BY TELEPHONE AND MICROSOFT TEAMS - NO LATE ADDITIONS TO APPLICATION RECORDS

Effective February 25, 2021, COVID-19 Notice No. 42 has been revised to add that unless the Court otherwise orders, no additional documents may be added to an application record after it has been submitted pursuant to the Supreme Court Civil Rules and Supreme Court Family Rules.

 

February 17, 2021
COVID-19 NOTICE NO. 43 - NOTICE TO THE MEDIA AND THE PUBLIC REGARDING ACCESS TO COURT PROCEEDINGS

The Supreme Court has issued COVID-19 Notice No. 43 to replace COVID-19 Notice No. 37, effective February 17, 2021. This notice sets out access to Court proceedings for accredited media and members of the public.

 

November 6, 2020
COVID-19 NOTICE NO. 27 – IN COURT MEASURES DURING THE PANDEMIC - UPDATED

Chief Justice Hinkson has revised Part IV of COVID-19 Notice No. 27 with respect to the use of masks inside courthouses.

 

July 27, 2020
COVID-19 NOTICE NO. 40 – RESUMPTION OF TRIAL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCES – CIVIL AND FAMILY MATTERS

Chief Justice Hinkson has issued COVID-19 Notice 40 to replace COVID-19 Notice 26. Effective July 27, 2020, parties must file and serve trial briefs, trial records and trial certificates in accordance with the Supreme Court Civil Rules and the Supreme Court Family Rules. The timeframes for filing and serving trial briefs, trial records, and trial certificates which were set out in COVID-19 Notice No. 26 no longer apply. The Court’s direction that TMCs proceed by telephone unless the Court otherwise orders continues to apply. For more information, click here. 

 

July 20, 2020
REVISIONS TO COVID-19 NOTICE NO. 14 - APPLICATIONS BY WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS

Further revisions have been made to COVID-19 Notice. 14 to clarify that a party may only bring one application by written submissions per file at a time.

 

July 17, 2020
COVID-19 NOTICE NO. 38 – CRIMINAL JURY TRIALS RESUMING SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

The Supreme Court of British Columbia will resume criminal jury selections and trials on September 8, 2020. For details please click here.

 

July 10, 2020
COVID-19 NOTICE NO. 36 – CASE PLANNING CONFERENCES

Effective July 13, 2020, parties may book case planning conferences (CPCs) in accordance with the process set out in the Supreme Court Civil Rules, as modified in this Notice. Unless the court otherwise orders, all CPCs will proceed by telephone until further notice. To view the Notice, click here. 

 

July 7, 2020
COVID-19 NOTICE NO. 33 - EXPANSION OF COURT OPERATIONS - CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

Effective July 13, 2020, all Supreme Court registries will be open for in-person services. For this and other reasons, on July 13, 2020, the request for hearing process for urgent and essential hearings will be discontinued and regular processes will resume except as set out in the notice. For more information click here.

 

June 30, 2020
COVID-19 NOTICE NO. 32 – RESUMPTION OF FURTHER COURT OPERATIONS – REGISTRAR HEARINGS

Effective June 30, the Court will resume registrar hearings. Most hearings will proceed by telephone unless the Court otherwise orders. Bankruptcy hearings will proceed in person at locations where there is a resident registrar or master, and by telephone at other locations. Until the resumption of in-person services at registries, trustees and parties may file their documents online through CSO and must submit their hearing records in hard copy following the processes set out in the notice. For more information, click here.

 

June 30, 2020
COVID-19 NOTICE NO. 31 – RESUMPTION OF FURTHER COURT OPERATIONS – SEALED BID PROCEDURES FOR FORECLOSURES AND OTHER MATTERS INVOLVING SALES OF LAND

With the resumption of civil chambers by telephone, foreclosure hearings have also resumed. The process for submitting sealed bids to the Court for foreclosures and other matters involving the sale of land is set out here.

 

June 30, 2020
COVID-19 NOTICE NO. 30 - CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS - APPLICATIONS UNDER S. 490 OF THE CRIMINAL CODE (FURTHER DETENTION OF THINGS SEIZED)

During the COVID-19 health emergency, the Supreme Court implemented a temporary procedure for s. 490 applications. This updated Notices describes some changes to the procedure. For more details, click here.

 

June 30, 2020
COVID-19 NOTICE NO. 29 - CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS - COVID PRE-TRIAL CONFERENCES (CV PTC)

CV PTCs, which were introduced on May 4, 2020, will continue until further notice for all criminal cases where the trial was adjourned or is at risk of being adjourned because of direct or indirect effects of the public health emergency.  This revised Notice directs that counsel are no longer required to complete and submit the CV PTC form, but are expected to appear at the CV PTC informed and instructed about the case. To view the Notice, click here.

 

May 26, 2020
COVID-19 NOTICE NO. 24 – FILING OF AFFIDAVITS OF SERVICE AND DELIVERY – CIVIL AND FAMILY MATTERS

Parties not appearing in person before the Court as a result of measures put in place during the public health emergency are required to file their affidavits of service or delivery and may do so by e-filing. For more information, click here.

 

April 21, 2020
COVID-19 NOTICE NO. 10 - E-FILING AND BANKRUPTCY DESK ORDER APPLICATIONS

On April 21, 2020, the Supreme Court of British Columbia issued a Notice to the Profession, Public and Media encouraging the use of e-filing for bankruptcy desk order applications. For more information click here.

 

March 27, 2020
COVID-19 NOTICE NO. 2 - NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC REGARDING AFFIDAVITS FOR USE IN COURT PROCEEDINGS

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Court of Appeal for British Columbia, the Supreme Court of British Columbia, and the Provincial Court of British Columbia will make accommodations for the commissioning of affidavits in circumstances where it is not possible or is medically unsafe for the deponent to attend before a commissioner. All three levels of court will follow the same process, set out in the directives linked below:

Court of Appeal for British Columbia

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Provincial Court of British Columbia



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COVID-19 ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

January 21, 2021
PROTOCOL FOR COMMUNICATION AND TESTING RELATED TO COVID-19 IN COURTHOUSES

In light of concerns raised by the BC Courts, counsel and other courthouse users about the need for timely and coordinated communication about COVID-19 testing and exposures in courthouses, the three levels of Court and Court Services Branch met with senior health officials and have created a protocol that is now in effect with these main components: 

  1. A Public Health Guidance document for courthouses that is publicly posted on the BC Centre for Disease Control website:  

    http://www.bccdc.ca/Health-Info-Site/Documents/COVID_public_guidance/Guidance_Court_Settings.pdf

  2. The BC Centre for Disease Control has created a webpage where the following type of information will be posted about COVID-19 and courthouses: COVID-19 exposures at courthouses where a medical health officer of public health specialist has determined there is a risk of infection to others; incident investigations, notices and summaries related to potential COVID-19 clusters, outbreaks or group testing; and courthouse site inspections.

  3. Each Regional Health Authority will be responsible for courthouse COVID-19 incident investigations, response and timely communication with the courts, Court Services Branch and where appropriate the public, recognizing that the Health Authorities alone have the information about COVID-19 incidents, cases, exposures, clusters and outbreaks.

  4. If there is to be group testing at a courthouse, notice will be communicated by the Regional Health Authority to those court participants relevant to the investigation.

  5. Targeted access to COVID-19 testing for court participants in relation to anticipated or ongoing court proceedings where, for example, a court participant is experiencing COVID-19-like symptoms and testing is required to determine whether the court proceeding can continue as scheduled.

See the Protocol here.

We thank everyone for their ongoing efforts to support the Courts and the justice system through this extremely challenging time. The Courts are committed to remaining open and accessible, and have taken steps to ensure safety as noted on the following websites:

 

April 21, 2020
USE OF BASIC BCeID FOR E-FILING

As of April 20, 2020 and for the duration of the suspension of regular operations at the Supreme Court of British Columbia, parties may e-file documents using Basic BCeID. For more information click here.

 

April 21, 2020
CERTIFICATES OF PENDING LITIGATION, CERTIFICATES OF JUDGMENT, AND CERTIFICATES OF COMMENCEMENT OF COMMENCEMENT OF PROCEEDINGS

As of April 17, 2020 and for the duration of the suspension of regular operations at the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Certificates of Pending Litigation, Certificates of Judgment, and Certificates of Commencement of Proceedings may be transmitted electronically. For more information click here.

 

April 17, 2020
AMENDMENT TO THREE COURTS' POLICY ON USE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICES IN COURTROOMS

The Three Courts’ Policy on Use of Electronic Devices in Courtrooms has been amended to confirm the Policy’s application to court proceedings conducted remotely. The amended Policy may be found here.

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(Announcements Archive)

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