The report highlighted the court's use of technology to improve access to justice
The BC Provincial Court has released its 2022/23 annual report, highlighting its use of technology to improve access to justice.
The Provincial Court is one of two trial courts in BC. Over 95 percent of criminal cases in BC are heard in the Provincial Court. The court also deals with family matters, including conducting trials and mediation conferences in disputes about guardianship of children, parenting arrangements, child and spousal support under the Family Law Act and other BC statutes, and child protection matters. Small claims cases and traffic, ticket, and bylaw cases are also brought to the Provincial Court.
The court’s 2022/23 annual report highlighted how the court has used technology to improve access to justice, including by solidifying front-end procedures in criminal, family, and small claims cases where people attend by videoconference instead of travelling to a courthouse, and by using technology to accelerate and streamline document processing.
The annual report demonstrated that one or more participants attended court remotely in 71 percent of all criminal, family, and civil Provincial Court appearances this year, although usually not in trials where witnesses testified. After COVID-related limits on in-person appearances were removed, many people still chose to attend virtually.
Chief Judge Melissa Gillespie also highlighted the court’s other initiatives like digital desk orders, electronic filing, and electronic access to records, decreasing reliance on paper files and supporting virtual proceedings.
The annual report showed 127 full-time judges during the 2022-2023 fiscal year, 52 percent of which were women. The court heard over 133,000 new cases, over 80,000 of which were criminal, family, and civil cases, while over 50,000 were traffic, ticket, and bylaw cases.
In addition to their usual work, all the court’s judicial officers and staff continued to learn and perfect new skills necessitated by technological advances like virtual hearings and digital court orders.
“It’s important to acknowledge that our increased use of technology has required Court Services Branch staff, lawyers, judicial justices, and judges to change how they work and develop new skills very rapidly,” Chief Judge Gillespie said. “I’m very grateful to all of them for their openness and willingness to adapt as they support the court in making changes to increase British Columbians’ access to justice.”
The 2022/23 annual report is available on the BC Provincial Court website.
