Since 2020, counsel and parties have had the option of booking Case Planning Conferences (CPCs), Judicial Case Conferences (JCCs), and Trial Management Conferences (TMCs) through the Supreme Court’s online booking system. Beginning in fall 2024, the Court will be transitioning to a fully online booking system for these types of conferences, as well as for trials and lengthy chambers hearings in civil and family matters.
Once the Court’s enhanced online booking system is introduced, all CPCs, JCCs and TMCs will be booked online. As is currently the case, parties and counsel seeking to book those types of conferences will be able to log into the Court’s online booking system (using their BCeID), and select one of the available dates offered by the Court.
Trials and lengthy chambers hearings will also be booked online. In locations where the Court is generally able to provide enough dates to meet user demands, parties and counsel will be able to book their trials and lengthy chambers matters online in the same way they would book a CPC, JCC or TMC.
In locations where the Court struggles to provide enough dates to meet the demands of all users seeking to book trials and lengthy chambers hearings (such as Vancouver, New Westminster and Victoria), the process will be as follows:
- Parties and counsel seeking to book a trial or lengthy chambers hearing will submit, within a “booking window” of several days, a ranked list of their preferred dates among the available dates offered by the Court; and
- Court time then will be allocated among those who submitted booking requests within the “booking window”, so that all users have an equal opportunity to secure dates.
The booking system will track unsuccessful booking requests submitted by a user for a matter, and give a higher priority to the next booking request submitted by that user for that matter.
Currently, trials and lengthy chambers hearings are booked using the Court’s telephone system, which operates on a “first to call” basis. Booking such matters through the telephone system is burdensome for both Scheduling staff and law firms. The Court has received feedback that in locations where securing dates is particularly competitive, larger law firms (or law firms with resources to hire temporary administrative staff to call into Scheduling on booking days) have an advantage in booking trials and lengthy chambers hearings using the telephone system.
By transitioning from telephone booking to online booking for trials and lengthy chambers hearings, the Court hopes to:
- Reduce the workload of Scheduling staff, allowing them to focus on other tasks;
- Reduce the administrative burden on law firms; and
- Ensure that all parties and counsel who are seeking to book trials and lengthy chambers hearings have an equal opportunity to do so.
Preparing for the transition
The purpose of this announcement is to give parties and counsel advance notice of this change so they may prepare for the transition. Parties and counsel who do not already have a BCeID will need to register for one in order to log in and use the online booking system. Information about how to register for a BCeID is available here.
More information regarding the transition to online booking will follow in due course. The Court thanks all users who have provided feedback on the existing telephone booking system, which has been helpful to the Court in improving and modernizing its approach.
Dated February 5, 2024 at Vancouver, British Columbia
By Direction of Chief Justice Christopher E. Hinkson
Supreme Court of British Columbia
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