Professional Notices

Purpose: To clarify the location of bail hearings during court sitting hours and outside of court sitting hours.

To set out the directions for centralized virtual bail hearings in virtual courtrooms during court sitting hours on weekdays in the Northern and Interior Regions.

Further to NP 28 Court Operations During Communicable Phase of COVID-19, the purpose of this Practice Direction is to set out some interim guidelines to govern initial appearance court (IAR) during this phase, while ensuring that people only come to IAR in-person when necessary.

The purpose of this practice direction is to set out the default methods of attendance for court appearances under the Provincial Court (Child, Family and Community Service Act) Rules, B.C. Reg. 533/95 (“CFCSA Rules”).

This Practice Direction sets: (A) the default method of attendance for small claims proceedings; and (B) the timelines and processes for litigants to file required documents with the Court and, in some instances, serve the documents, in advance of a trial conference, settlement conference, application to a judge, payment hearing, or Rule 9.1 simplified trial.

This Notice provides direction and information for anyone who will attend a virtual or in-person proceeding in the Provincial Court remotely by audioconference (including telephone or Microsoft Teams) or videoconference (including Microsoft Teams).

As COVID-19 still actively circulates in our communities and the requirement to self-isolate for those who test positive for COVID-19 continues, the Court recognizes the need to accommodate remote appearances in order to maintain court operations.

This Notice concerns the Masters Chambers Pilot on Vancouver Island (“the Pilot”), which will commence August 15, 2022.

The following chart sets out the default manner of attendance at civil and family law proceedings, including those previously scheduled, as of April 11, 2022 and until further notice, unless the Court otherwise orders or directs. “Teams video” indicates that the appearance is by video using the Microsoft Teams platform.

There are two main purposes behind these pre-trial conferences. The first is to reduce the number of files being set for trial by helping to ensure that only those requiring a trial are actually set for hearing. The second purpose is to manage those files that are to be set for trial to ensure that accurate time estimates have been determined prior to dates being set and ensure hearings complete on time as scheduled.