2020

Chief Judge Gillespie has issued five updated notices today. Highlights are outlined below. Please note that while Provincial Court registries are now accepting all filings in-person, people are encouraged to use remote filing options, including email, to reduce the number of people in courthouses.

What has become clear, however, is the benefits from the incredible improvement in communications Eby has nurtured and what that has meant.

COVID-19 has ravaged the country’s legal system and precipitated a long backlog of cases that has Attorney General David Eby and his counterparts in other provinces scrambling.

A one-year moratorium and possible elimination of civil juries and mandatory arbitration on motor vehicle litigation are being considered by Attorney General David Eby to ease the burgeoning backlog in B.C. Supreme Court.

This Notice provides directions on filing documents in civil and criminal appeals. Beginning 14 July 2020 this Notice rescinds and replaces the directions described in section 3.2 of the Notice to the Public Regarding the Court of Appeal’s Response to Covid-19 dated 7 July 2020.

The BC Provincial Court sits in many court locations in the province. Currently, we are working with government and in some cases, local communities, to have the consultant that government has retained view the circuit courts and make recommendations about what steps need to be taken to make those courts safe and accessible to members of the public.

The federal Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on July 3 that Lindsay M. Lyster, partner at Moore Edgar Lyster LLP in Vancouver, is appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

A summary of the Notices and Practice Directions issued by Chief Judge Gillespie and effective July 2, 2020.

This video-post speaks to the impact of COVD-19 on all of us and also reminds us that in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. For the justice system, there is a moment here to embrace the opportunity this crisis offers.

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.