Misplaced Pages

#844155

35-519: The court was established in 1859 as the "Supreme Court of the Mainland of British Columbia" to distinguish it from the "Supreme Court of Vancouver Island". The two courts merged in 1870 under the present name. The British Columbia Supreme Court is a court of record and has original jurisdiction in all cases, civil and criminal, arising in British Columbia. The Court has inherent jurisdiction under

70-464: A remedy . The remedy sought may be money, an injunction , which requires the defendant to perform or refrain from performing some action, or a declaratory judgment , which determines that the plaintiff has certain legal rights. The remedy will be prescribed by the court if the plaintiff wins the case. A civil case can also be arbitrated through arbitration , which may result in a faster settlement, with lower costs, than could be obtained by going through

105-673: A Court of Record. Courts of record are loosely defined in English law . They have been defined as: As such, the following may be defined as courts of record: Under an alternative definition, courts or tribunals may be designated by statute as "courts of record" irrespective of any of the three above criteria, such as the County Court under section 1A of the County Courts Act 1984 or the First-Tier Tribunal pursuant to section 3 of

140-427: A Social Security claims examiner or a patent examiner. Then, the agency provides a first-level of intra-agency review before a board of appeals that conducts its proceedings on a more formal basis than the proceedings before the initial hearing officer. In most cases, the first level appeal is " trial de novo " (or a 'hearing de novo' ). The intra-agency appeal may be of record or not or somewhere between, depending on

175-419: A copy of the documents associated with the designation previously assigned to the case. However, it is often more convenient to refer to cases – particularly landmark and other notable cases – by a title of the form Claimant v Defendant (e.g. Arkell v Pressdram ). Where a legal proceeding does not have formally designated adverse parties, a form such as In re , Re or In

210-405: A legal case may occur between parties that are not in opposition, but require a legal ruling to formally establish some legal facts. A civil case, more commonly known as a lawsuit or controversy , begins when a plaintiff files most a document called a complaint with a court, informing the court of the wrong that the plaintiff has allegedly suffered because of the defendant , and requesting

245-400: A license to practice law before the specific tribunal). In contrast, in courts not of record , oral proceedings are not recorded, and the judge makes his or her decision based on notes and memory. In most "not of record" proceedings, the parties may appear personally, without lawyers. For example, most small claims courts , traffic courts , justice courts presided over by justices of

280-517: A person suspected of a crime is indicted by a grand jury or otherwise charged with the offense by a government official called a prosecutor or district attorney . A criminal case may in some jurisdictions be settled before a trial through a plea bargain . Typically, in a plea bargain, the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a lesser charge than that which was originally brought by the grand jury or prosecutor. A defendant who goes to trial risks greater penalties than would normally be imposed through

315-409: A plea bargain. Legal cases, whether criminal or civil, are premised on the idea that a dispute will be fairly resolved when a legal procedure exists by which the dispute can be brought to a factfinder not otherwise involved in the case, who can evaluate evidence to determine the truth with respect to claims of guilt, innocence, liability, or lack of fault. Details of the procedure may depend on both

350-718: A record of the proceedings is captured and preserved, for the possibility of appeal . A court clerk or a court reporter takes down a record of oral proceedings. That written record (and all other evidence) is preserved at least long enough for all appeals to be exhausted, or for some further period of time provided by law (for example, in some U.S. states , death penalty statutes provide that all evidence must be preserved for an extended period of time). Most courts of record have rules of procedure (see rules of evidence , rules of civil procedure , and rules of criminal procedure ) and therefore they require that most parties be represented by counsel (specifically, attorneys holding

385-495: A spectrum, and there is a transition zone between them. Many proceedings have an intermediate character, with some "of record" characteristics but not others. For example, in some agencies of the U.S. government, oral arguments in intra-agency appeals are transcribed by a reporter as a matter of the agency's choice, but since the record is not required by statute, other guarantees of 5 U.S.C. §§ 554, 556, and 557 do not apply. For example, in proceedings before executive branch agencies of

SECTION 10

#1732838444845

420-401: A transcript of any trial , and it may include an audio or videotape of hearings, appearances, or arguments of motions . Exhibits introduced in evidence are maintained in the court record at least for a certain period of time after the case has been tried, when the evidence may be returned to the parties or destroyed. If either party takes an appeal, the lower court produces a copy certified by

455-639: A trial. The plaintiff must make a genuine effort to inform the defendant of the case through service of process , by which the plaintiff delivers to the defendant the same documents that the plaintiff filed with the court. At any point during the case, the parties can agree to a settlement , which will end the case, although in some circumstances, such as in class actions , a settlement requires court approval in order to be binding. Cases involving separation including asset division, support (also known as maintenance or alimony), and matters related to children are handled differently in different jurisdictions. Often,

490-423: A unique seal to authenticate the formal record. Legal case Legal proceeding is an activity that seeks to invoke the power of a tribunal in order to enforce a law. Although the term may be defined more broadly or more narrowly as circumstances require, it has been noted that "[t]he term legal proceedings includes proceedings brought by or at the instigation of a public authority, and an appeal against

525-459: Is limited to those matters granted to them by statute and the Rules of Court. Masters preside in chambers, where they usually hear interlocutory applications and other pre- trial matters. Masters cannot hear civil trials and do not preside in criminal matters. In court, Masters were formerly addressed as "Master," but in a practice direction issued on September 6, 1991, then Chief Justice Esson advised

560-414: Is often possible to go to a court to seek judicial review of the judgment of the agency. The primary function of the record is to serve as the basis for appellate review of the agency- or trial-level proceedings. The record from a trial court includes the evidence introduced by the parties and some form of record of the proceeding itself, which includes copies of all papers filed by the parties and

595-427: Is only meaningful if the trial-level court kept a record of its proceedings. In some classes of cases, after a determination by an inferior or lower tribunal not of record, a party may take a first-level appeal to a tribunal that is of record. For example, many government administrative agencies delegate initial decisions to a single person who acts informally, typically with a title like "clerk" or "examiner," such as

630-714: The Constitution of Canada , in addition to any jurisdiction granted to it by federal or provincial statute. The Court has jurisdiction in any civil dispute, including those matters where the dollar amount involved is within the jurisdiction of the Small Claims division of the Provincial Court. Under the Criminal Code , the Court is included as a "superior court of criminal jurisdiction" meaning that it has exclusive jurisdiction for

665-553: The Chief Justice, the terms "my Lord" and "my Lady" are to be avoided. Rather, Justices are addressed as "Chief Justice", "Associate Chief Justice", "Justice", "Madam Justice" or "Mr. Justice" as context requires. Masters are appointed by the provincial cabinet , on recommendation of the Attorney General in consultation with the Chief Justice. As provincial appointees, masters do not have inherent jurisdiction. Their jurisdiction

700-517: The Constitution that an impeachment proceeding be primarily a legal proceeding, akin to a criminal prosecution, rather than a political one". A legal case is in a general sense a dispute between opposing parties which may be resolved by a court , or by some equivalent legal process. A legal case is typically based on either civil or criminal law . In most legal cases, there are one or more accusers and one or more defendants . In some instances,

735-537: The Supreme Court (including the position of Chief Justice and Associate Chief Justice) are appointed by the federal cabinet , on recommendation of the Minister of Justice . All justices have full jurisdiction over any matter before the Court. It is court protocol to refer to the judges of the Court as "justices". Prior to 2021, justices in the court were addressed as "my Lord" or "my Lady". As of 2021, by directive of

SECTION 20

#1732838444845

770-781: The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. Using a broader definition, the majority of courts in the UK keep records of proceedings. This includes the county court and most independent tribunals, e.g. the Investigatory Powers Tribunal . Courts of record are not defined in Scots law. However, both the High Court of Justiciary and Court of Session keep record of all proceedings and as such may be generally termed courts of record. "Of record" and "not of record" are two polar extremes of

805-400: The U.S. federal government, fully-formal proceedings of record are governed by the "formal adjudication" or "on the record" provisions of §§ 554, 556, and 557, but informal proceedings or "not on the record" proceedings are governed by § 555. However, powers available to the tribunal turn on the tribunal having full "of record" characteristics. For example, in many states, statutes provide that

840-696: The United States or United Kingdom. Prior to 1990, there existed in British Columbia a County Court , an intermediate court between the Provincial Court and the Supreme Court. In 1990, the County Court was merged with the Supreme Court, and its judges became justices of the Supreme Court. The judicial districts of the Supreme Court have the same boundaries of the counties of the former County Court. The judicial districts are: Cariboo; Kootenay; Nanaimo; Prince Rupert; Vancouver Westminster; Victoria; and Yale. Within each county, or judicial district, justices are resident in

875-399: The agency. That is not an appeal as such but a new proceeding, which completely supersedes the result of the prior agency determination. Often, the review tribunal will not permit introduction of new evidence, or may have evidentiary rules that are quite restrictive. When the first-level adjudication is made by an executive branch agency, and after all intra-agency procedures are exhausted, it

910-556: The court's procedure for dealing with family cases is very similar to that of a civil case (it requires service and disclosure, and will issue judgments). Divorce and separation from a spouse is one of the most stressful situations, as rated by the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale , and so family proceedings are increasingly being "divorced" from the often very formal and impersonal process of civil proceedings, and given special treatment. A criminal case , in common law jurisdictions, begins when

945-585: The decision of a court or tribunal". Legal proceedings are generally characterized by an orderly process in which participants or their representatives are able to present evidence in support of their claims, and to argue in favor of particular interpretations of the law, after which a judge , jury , or other trier of fact makes a determination of the factual and legal issues. In the United States , Congressional hearings are not generally considered legal proceedings, as they are generally not directed towards

980-471: The following locations: The Supreme Court also holds sittings in the following court locations for which there is not a resident justice: Prior to 1909, when the British Columbia Court of Appeal was established, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was considered the Chief Justice of British Columbia. Court of record A court of record is a trial court or appellate court in which

1015-413: The imposition of a penalty against a specific individual for a specific wrong. However, impeachment proceedings are generally conducted as legal proceedings, although experts dispute the question of whether they are primarily legal proceedings, or are merely political proceedings dressed in legal formalities and language. Richard Posner , for example, has asserted that it was "the intent of the framers of

1050-438: The kind of case and the kind of system in which the case is brought – whether, for example, it is an inquisitorial system or a solo In most systems, the governing body responsible for overseeing the courts assigns a unique number/letter combination or similar designation to each case in order to track the various disputes that are or have been before it. The outcome of the case is recorded, and can later be reviewed by obtaining

1085-521: The matter of is used (e.g. In re Gault ). The "v" separating the parties is an abbreviation of the Latin versus , but, when spoken in Commonwealth countries , it is normally rendered as " and " or " against " (as in, for example, Charles Dickens ' Jarndyce and Jarndyce ). Where it is considered necessary to protect the anonymity of a natural person , some cases may have one or both parties replaced by

Supreme Court of British Columbia - Misplaced Pages Continue

1120-425: The most appropriate form of address would be "your Honour". Masters also sit and hear matters as registrars, hearing such matters as assessments of solicitors fees and accounts. The Supreme Court sits in eight judicial districts called " counties ". That is the only usage of "county" in British Columbia, which is a reference only to such court districts and has no similarity to the meaning in other provinces of Canada,

1155-463: The peace , many administrative tribunals that make initial governmental administrative decisions such as government benefit determinations, and the like, are not courts of record. The Constitution of India , under Article 129 states that the Supreme Court of India shall be a Court of record with powers to punish for contempt of itself. Similarly, Art 215 declares all High Courts of India to be

1190-422: The power to fine or imprison lies only with courts of record. Similarly, for a court to punish for contempt, there must be a record of exactly what was said by whom and so the power to punish for contempt requires the tribunal have at least a court reporter taking down all proceedings. The rationale is that criminal penalties or contempt penalties may not be imposed unless there is a right of appeal, and an appeal

1225-487: The trial of serious crimes within British Columbia. The Court also hears some appeals from the Provincial Court and some administrative tribunals. Appeals from its own judgments are heard by the British Columbia Court of Appeal . The Supreme Court is also responsible for call ceremonies for admitting lawyers and notaries public where the respective oath of office is administered by a justice. All justices of

#844155