APRIL - JUNE 2012

June 1, 2012
ANNOUNCEMENT - AMENDMENTS CONCERNING LEAVE TO APPEAL

The Court of Appeal Act and Court of Appeal Rules have been amended to provide a new process for seeking leave to appeal. Section 7 of the Court of Appeal Act now refers to a codified list of orders, called "limited appeal orders," from which parties must seek leave to appeal. When considering an appeal, you should examine the list of "limited appeal orders" in Rule 2.1 of the Court of Appeal Rules to determine if leave to appeal is required.

The changes are effective May 31, 2012. The change to section 7 of the Court of Appeal Act may be found in section 2 of the Justice Statutes Amendment Act, 2012. Orders in council bringing these changes into effect may be found here and here.

June 1, 2012
ANNOUNCEMENT - CHRONOLOGIES IN FACTUMS (FORM 10)

The requirements in Form 10 have been amended in two ways with respect to the preparation of chronologies:

1. a loose copy of the chronology is no longer required; and,
2. clearer instructions have been provided on how to prepare a chronology.

The changes are effective May 31, 2012. The new Form 10 may be found here. The order in council bringing this change into effect may be found here.

The following notice should also be observed:

The Form 10 requirement for a chronology is sometimes incorrectly interpreted as requiring a party to list not only the dates of events forming the background to the litigation but also the dates on which various steps were taken in the litigation giving rise to the appeal. It is unnecessary to include steps in the litigation in the chronology unless those steps are relevant to one or more of the issues to be determined on the appeal. The chronology should not be a recitation of all the facts in the litigation or those described in the statement of facts. The chronology should be a brief, point-form list of only the critical events that are relevant to an issue on appeal.

May 8, 2012
CRIMINAL PRACTICE DIRECTIVE - IN CUSTODY APPELLANTS AND NEW TRIALS

The Court of Appeal has issued a new criminal practice directive the purpose of which is to ensure that an appellant who is in custody when a new trial is ordered: (a) is not released from custody until the matter of bail pending the new trial has been dealt with; and (b) appears before the trial court in a timely way. A copy of the new directive may be found here.

May 7, 2012
WELCOMING CEREMONY - HONOURABLE JUSTICE DAVID C. HARRIS

On Thursday, May 31, 2012, the Court will hold a formal ceremony to welcome the Honourable Mr. Justice David C. Harris to the Court of Appeal. The ceremony will begin at 4:15p.m. in Courtroom 60 of the Vancouver Law Courts.

April 17, 2012
PRACTICE NOTE - COURT SITTINGS IN KAMLOOPS, KELOWNA AND PRINCE GEORGE

The Court of Appeal has revised the civil and criminal Practice Note titled "Court Sittings in Kamloops, Kelowna and Prince George." The only change is to extend the procedure indefinitely. A copy of the revised directive may be found here.

April 10, 2012
NOTICE: JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT - APRIL 10, 2012

The British Columbia Court of Appeal welcomes the appointment of the Honourable Mr. Justice David C. Harris, a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. For more information about the Honourable Mr. Justice David C. Harris, please see the press release issued by the Minister of Justice.