Amendments to the Supreme Court Civil Rules and Supreme Court Family Rules will make it easier for people in B.C. to access court services.

While most amendments are for housekeeping purposes, updates to use plain language will improve accessibility, particularly for people who speak English as an additional language. The changes include:

• requiring an email address for parties, if available, to make it easier to serve documents electronically;
• reducing the circumstances where trial-management conferences are mandatory so cases can be heard more quickly. These conferences give an opportunity for a judge or master to meet with lawyers and their clients to discuss how the trial will proceed;
• introducing new trial brief forms for civil and family matters to capture the necessary information more accurately for trials to proceed. Trial briefs are used to streamline the issues of a case and preview legal arguments for the court; and
• creating a new case-planning conference option for family law cases will bring the parties together early in the litigation to talk about how the case will proceed.

These changes were recommended by the Supreme Court Civil and Family Rules Committee based on feedback from court users. The committee advises the attorney general on issues affecting access to justice that might be addressed through the court rules.

Learn More:

For information about the Supreme Court Civil and Family Rules Committee, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/justice/about-bcs-justice-system/sc-rules-committee