Returning to old process will reduce delays, association branch says
The Canadian Bar Association’s BC branch (CBABC) made a submission requesting that the Supreme Court of British Columbia reinstate the default case management of class action proceedings, given the impact of the 2023 amendments to three civil practice directions.
These practice directions pertain to class proceedings (PD 4), the judicial management and early assessment of a trial judge or hearing judge in civil and family proceedings (PD 5), and the Canadian judicial protocol for managing multi-jurisdictional class actions and providing class action notices (PD 55).
Lee Nevens, CBABC president for 2024–25, wrote Chief Justice Ronald Skolrood of the BC Supreme Court on behalf of over 8,000 members in the association. Nevens noted that the amendments removed default case management for class proceedings and made BC the only outlier among Canada’s other provinces that commonly litigate class actions.
The CBABC said restoring the default case management of class actions would support the interests of justice and the objectives of class proceedings and promote the adjudication or resolution of disputes.
Nevens shared that this submission to the court reflected insights obtained in consultation with the CBABC class action section, consisting of plaintiff and defence class action lawyers in the province. The CBABC’s policy and advocacy committee and board of directors reviewed and approved the submission.
In the CBABC’s submission, Nevens explained that class actions are complicated and unique among proceedings because they generally last years and affect thousands to millions of Canadians.
Nevens added that class proceedings often involve coordination across courts in various jurisdictions, multiple defendants represented by different groups of counsel, novel claims and legal issues, and preliminary disputes involving jurisdiction, cross-examination of witnesses, and admission of evidence.
Next, Nevens highlighted that active case management helps class proceedings proceed efficiently and aligns with the objectives of judicial economy, access to justice, and behaviour modification for class actions. Nevens noted that PD 55 assumes the existence of case management for class proceedings.
Nevens then stressed that case management can help save judicial resources and reduce delays. Meanwhile, a lack of default case management can result in inefficiency and unnecessary expenditure by the court and its users, Nevens noted.
“Scarce judicial time that could have been preserved for other matters is instead used to address issues that could be handled or avoided entirely through default case management,” Nevens said in the CBABC’s submission.
“These inefficiencies will only compound as more proposed class actions move through the processes designed for ordinary actions, instead of the unique machinery of class actions intended to address multi-jurisdictional claims of absent class members across Canada,” Nevens added in the submission.