Courts of BC Flashcards
Do you know what types of courts operate in British Columbia? Trial?
Appeal? Or Both?
Did you say both? Good answer. Yes, here in BC, we have two trial courts
and one appeal court.
Depending upon the type of case, trials are held in either the Provincial Court of BC or the Supreme Court of BC.
The judges in these courts hear
evidence from each side and decide in favour of one. These are called trial
courts.
After a decision, one of the parties may be unhappy with the outcome and believe that the judge came to a wrong decision.
Under certain conditions, that party may be able to go to the Court of Appeal for BC where three or five judges can either accept or reject the appeal.
The appeal process does not have to stop there.
The Supreme Court of Canada can hear appeals from the Courts of Appeal in every province, including BC. The Supreme Court of Canada has the last word, though. All
courts in Canada must follow the decisions of the highest court in the land.
Who runs the courts?
Both the federal and provincial governments are involved in BC’s court system.
The Government of Canada appoints and pays the judges of the Supreme Court of BC, the Court of Appeal for BC and, of course, the Supreme Court of Canada.
How Are Civil Cases Started?
when one party files court documents called
pleadings.
The other party can file their own documents to present
their position.
Whoever starts this process is called the plaintiff, claimant
or the petitioner.
The party on the other side is called the defendant or
the respondent.
How Are Civil Cases Decided?
Civil cases are heard at all court levels.
If your case involved a claim of $25,000 or under, it could be brought to the Small Claims in the Provincial Court of BC. They generally cost less money and take less time
than trials in Supreme Court.
Larger claim, it could be heard by a judge or jury
in the Supreme Court of BC. If you chose to have a jury, you would face eight jurors who are regular citizens charged by the court to made judicial decisions. Most Supreme Court civil cases are heard by a judge sitting alone.
Crimes against Society
As Canadian citizens, we must all abide by a federal law called the “Criminal Code” which defines many different kinds of actions as crimes.
If an offence is listed in the “Criminal Code,” it is considered a crime.
When police and prosecutors reasonably believe a person has broken a criminal law, they can charge that person with an offence.
That person is
called the accused.
Although the accused certainly may have harmed one or more individuals personally, our justice system considers a crime to be an offence against the state itself, therefore the charge would read:
Regina (which is Latin for Queen, our official Head of State) versus the name of the person charged. For example, if someone with the last name Smith was charged with murder, Smith would be the accused and the charge would read
Regina v. Smith.
Lawyers for each side are called?
The government hires lawyers to act on behalf of everyone living in our community and society who, in a sense, have all been harmed by the crime. These lawyers are called Crown counsel or prosecutors.
The accused has the right to have his or her own lawyer. They are called defence counsel. Each type of lawyer can present evidence at a criminal trial and also make arguments on appeals.
At Trial
criminal trial the judge or the jury decides whether or not the accused is guilty.
jury has twelve members and must decide unanimously to
convict before the accused can be found guilty.
If there is a jury, they make the decision.
The judge makes rulings on the law and explains how
the law applies to the facts of the case.
The judge in jury trials does not make the decision.
Once a case goes to trial, the accused cannot decide to settle with the other side as in civil disputes. Only the Crown counsel has the power to drop the case.
- witnesses to the crime are compelled to come to court to give evidence (or testify) even if they have changed their minds about testifying.
Exp - in an assault case between husband and wife, the injured party may not want to testify. However, if the charge has been laid, it is up to the Crown to decide whether or not to go ahead.
