# BC-Specific Procedural Glossary Expanded procedural terminology for BC Supreme Court and Provincial Court practice. --- ## Court Structure **Provincial Court of BC** — the trial court of first instance for most criminal matters, small claims (up to $35,000), and family (non-Supreme Court) matters. **Supreme Court of BC** — the superior trial court, with inherent jurisdiction. Hears civil actions (unlimited monetary), family, judicial reviews, and appeals from Provincial Court in some circumstances. **Court of Appeal for BC** — appellate court from BC Supreme Court and some tribunals. **Supreme Court of Canada** — the final court of appeal, on leave granted. --- ## BC Supreme Court Civil Rules — Selected Terms **Notice of Civil Claim (Form 1)** — originates an ordinary action. **Response to Civil Claim (Form 2)** — the defendant's pleading. **Counterclaim (Form 3)** — a claim by a defendant against a plaintiff. **Third Party Notice (Form 5)** — a claim by a defendant against a third party. **Petition (Form 66)** — originates a petition proceeding, including judicial reviews. **Response to Petition (Form 67)** — the respondent's pleading in a petition proceeding. **Requisition (Form 17)** — used to request an order that is available without a hearing, or to schedule a chambers matter. **Notice of Application (Form 32)** — filed to bring an application on notice. **Application Response (Form 33)** — response to a Form 32 application. **Affidavit (Form 109)** — the standard affidavit form. **Certificate of Pending Litigation (CPL)** — a notice registered against title to land indicating litigation affects the property. --- ## BC-Specific Timelines (Selected) Verify current versions of the Rules — timelines are amended periodically. **Judicial review under JRPA** — 60 days from the decision under review. **Response to petition** — generally 21 days after service (7 days if served in BC). **Application response** — generally 5 business days before the hearing. **Written submissions on petition** — set by the court or the Rules; often 21 days for petitioner's, 21 days for respondent's, 7 days for petitioner's reply. **Filing of chambers record** — typically 4 business days before hearing. **Notice of appeal to BCCA** — generally 30 days from the order under appeal. Always check the current rule text and any recent amendments. --- ## Chambers Practice **Chambers** — a proceeding before a judge (or associate judge) in a setting less formal than trial, for applications and petitions. **Chambers list** — the list of matters scheduled to be heard in chambers on a given day. **Long chambers / short chambers** — long chambers matters exceed a default duration (varies by registry) and are scheduled separately. **Chambers record** — the collected materials for a chambers matter, prepared and filed in advance. **Chambers brief** — sometimes used interchangeably with chambers record; in some usages, refers specifically to the argument. **Speaking to the record** — presenting oral argument on a chambers matter, typically time-limited. --- ## Associate Judge (formerly "Master") Jurisdiction **Associate Judge** — a judicial officer of the BC Supreme Court with jurisdiction over specified matters, primarily interlocutory. Cannot hear the merits of most petitions or trials. **Registrar** — a judicial officer with jurisdiction over specified administrative and interlocutory matters, including cost assessments. Consult the BC Supreme Court Civil Rules for the current allocation of jurisdiction — this has been subject to change. --- ## Costs **Costs** — the recoverable expenses of litigation, typically awarded to the successful party. **Costs on Scale B (or "ordinary costs")** — the standard scale of costs in BC Supreme Court, calculated by reference to tariff units in Appendix B of the Rules. **Special costs** — costs awarded on a substantial-indemnity basis for misconduct or in exceptional circumstances. Substantially higher than Scale B. **Costs in the cause** — costs to be paid by the ultimately unsuccessful party at the end of the proceeding. **No order as to costs** — each party bears their own costs of the particular matter. **Costs thrown away** — costs incurred that have been wasted (e.g. by an adjournment for which one party is responsible). **Bill of costs** — the itemized statement filed to have costs assessed by the registrar. --- ## Judgments and Orders **Judgment** — the final determination of a proceeding on its merits. **Order** — any direction of the court, whether interlocutory or final. **Consent order** — an order made on the consent of the parties. **Default judgment** — a judgment obtained where the defendant has failed to file a response within the required time. **Summary judgment** — a judgment made without a full trial, where the material facts are not genuinely in dispute. **Perfected order** — an order that has been entered by the registry after being signed and filed. **Enforceability** — an order is enforceable once entered; some orders may require a further step (e.g. writ of execution) to enforce. --- ## Appeals **Appeal as of right** — an appeal that can be brought without leave. **Appeal with leave** — an appeal that requires the permission of the court. **Leave to appeal** — an application for permission to appeal. **Interlocutory appeal** — an appeal from an intermediate order, before final disposition. **Appeal book** — the compiled record on appeal, containing the pleadings, judgments, and relevant materials. **Notice of appeal** — the document commencing an appeal, filed within the time limit prescribed by the rules. **Standard of review on appeal** — for questions of law, correctness; for questions of fact, palpable and overriding error; for questions of mixed fact and law, generally palpable and overriding error unless an extricable question of law is identified (see *Housen v Nikolaisen* 2002 SCC). --- ## Disclosure and Discovery **Discovery** — the pre-trial process by which parties exchange information about the case. **List of documents** — a document listing the records in a party's possession or control relevant to the matters in issue. **Document production** — providing the documents on the list to the other party. **Examination for discovery** — the pre-trial oral examination of a party under oath. **Interrogatories** — written questions answered under oath. Less commonly used in BC than in some jurisdictions. **Privilege log** — a list of documents withheld on a claim of privilege. **Redaction** — the striking out of privileged or irrelevant portions of an otherwise producible document.