OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2023

December 14, 2023
WELCOMING CEREMONY - JUSTICE DAVID JONES AND JUSTICE JENNIFER WHATELY - JANUARY 29, 2024

A Welcoming Ceremony for the Honourable Justice David Jones and the Honourable Justice Jennifer Whately will be held on Monday, January 29, 2024, at 4:15 p.m. in courtroom 55 at the Vancouver Law Courts. Members of the public are invited to attend the Welcoming Ceremony.

November 30, 2023
JUDICIAL RETIREMENT - THE HONOURABLE JUSTICE ROBERT PUNNETT

The Supreme Court of British Columbia announces that the Honourable Justice Robert Punnett retired from the Supreme Court of British Columbia at Prince Rupert on November 30, 2023. Justice Punnett was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2009.

November 17, 2023
NO MASTERS SITTING AT SPECIFIC SUPREME COURT REGISTRIES FROM DECEMBER 1 to JANUARY 31

Chief Justice Hinkson has issued a Notice directing that, due to winter conditions, masters will not be sitting in Dawson Creek, Fort St. John, Nelson, Quesnel, Rossland, Smithers, and Williams Lake each year between December 1 and January 31. This Notice replaces a similar Notice issued by Chief Justice Hinkson on November 15, 2022, which set out a similar direction for the period of December 1, 2022 to January 31, 2023.

November 10, 2023
NOTICE TO THE PROFESSION, THE PUBLIC AND THE MEDIA REGARDING CIVIL AND FAMILY PROCEEDINGS - EXPANSION OF THE MASTERS CHAMBERS PILOT

As set out in the Masters Chambers Pilot Project Notice, the Chambers Pilot Project, which allows for electronic filing of chambers application records in PDF format through Court Services Online, will be expanded on December 4, 2023. The Project was initially available for applications scheduled for 30 minutes or less in Masters chambers at court locations on Vancouver Island (Campbell River, Courtenay, Duncan, Nanaimo, Port Alberni, and Victoria) and in Powell River. The Project expanded to include court locations in the interior region (Cranbrook, Kamloops, Kelowna, Nelson, Penticton, Rossland, Salmon Arm and Vernon) on June 19, 2023 and to court locations in the northern region (Dawson Creek, Fort St. John, Prince George, Quesnel, Smithers and Terrace) on October 23, 2023. The Project is now being expanded to applications scheduled for 30 minutes or less in Masters chambers at court locations in Abbotsford, Chilliwack and New Westminster, commencing December 4, 2023.

Detailed instructions about working with PDFs can be found here.

October 17, 2023
REVISIONS TO PD - 4, PD - 5 AND PD - 55

Please be advised that effective October 17, 2023, Chief Justice Hinkson has amended three practice directions:

• Practice Direction 4 has been renamed Judicial Management and Early Assignment of a Trial Judge or Hearing Judge in Civil and Family Proceedings, and revised to:
  
  
• Update the procedure to be followed by parties requesting judicial management and/or the early assignment of a trial judge or hearing judge in civil and family proceedings, and to clarify the criteria applicable to such requests; and
  
  
• Make PD - 4 applicable to proceedings commenced under the Class Proceedings Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 50.
  
  
• Practice Direction 5 - Class Proceedings has been updated to:
  
  
• Remove the direction that a party in a proceeding commenced under the Class Proceedings Act may request the assignment of a case management judge by filing a Request for Assignment of Judge with the Scheduling Manager of the appropriate registry (as this process has been replaced by the procedures set out in Practice Direction 4); and
  
  
• Direct that certification applications in proceedings commenced under the Class Proceedings Act are not to be set for hearing in regular chambers.  Where a proceeding under the Class Proceedings Act has been assigned to a judge for judicial management under Practice Direction 4, a certification application in that proceeding shall be scheduled before that judge using the process set out in Practice Direction 18.  Where a proceeding under the Class Proceedings Act has not been assigned to a judge for judicial management under Practice Direction 4, a certification application in that proceeding shall, irrespective of the parties’ time estimate(s) for the hearing of that application, be scheduled through the lengthy chambers booking process. This will allow Scheduling to oversee and manage the assignment of judges to hear certification applications in class proceedings.
  
  
• Practice Direction 55 - Canadian Judicial Protocol for the Management of Multi-jurisdictional Class Actions and the Provision of Class Action Notice has been updated to note that it should be read together with PD - 4 and PD - 5.

October 17, 2023
WELCOMING CEREMONY - JUSTICE BRADFORD SMITH - NOVEMBER 20, 2023

A Welcoming Ceremony for the Honourable Justice Bradford Smith will be held on Monday, November 20, 2023 at the Kamloops Law Courts in Courtroom 5D at 4:15 p.m. Members of the public are invited to attend the Welcoming Ceremony.

October 10, 2023
CALL AND ADMISSION CEREMONY - FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2023

This event will take place in the Great Hall at the Vancouver Law Courts at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The ceremony will be conducted by the Honourable Justice Joseph Doyle in the morning and the Honourable Justice Murray B. Blok in the afternoon.

September 29, 2023
SUPREME COURT MASTER - UPDATED

Previously, this announcement incorrectly listed the closing date for the competition as November 16. If you attempted to apply after November 13 but prior to 11 a.m. on November 15 and were unable to do so because the posting had closed, please contact competitions@bccourts.ca.

The Supreme Court of British Columbia has an opening in New Westminster or Vancouver for a Supreme Court Master. 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 Monday, November 13, 2023.

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