Getting ready for criminal court
The Provincial Court deals with charges against adults for most crimes. It does not conduct trials for adults charged with murder and a few other rare crimes like piracy. Those trials are held in the BC Supreme Court.
In youth court the Provincial Court deals with charges against young people aged 12 to 17 for all crimes.
Over 95% of all criminal cases in BC are heard in Provincial Court.
Laws in criminal court
Two federal statutes apply to most criminal matters. The Criminal Code<p><span lang="EN-US">Criminal Code of Canada (CCC)</span><span lang="EN-US"> is the federal law that applies across Canada and sets out criminal offences, sentences and how a criminal case proceeds. A judge must follow the law in the </span><span lang="EN-US">Criminal Code</span><span lang="EN-US">.</span><span> </span></p> of Canada sets out criminal offences and procedure and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act contains criminal offences specific to illegal drugs and the substances used to produce them.
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
Methods of appearance in criminal cases
Criminal cases involve different stages and different types of court appearances. In-person attendance is required for some appearances at the Court. For others, remote attendance is required, or there may be a choice as to whether to attend in-person or remotely.
The Court's Notice 28 describes the default method of how different kinds of cases are heard in the Appendix.
Notice 28 Current Court Operations
Terms used in criminal cases
You may see or hear unfamiliar legal words and abbreviations in criminal court documents and proceedings. Many of these are explained on our "Glossary and court jargon" page. This page also contains links to other helpful glossaries and guides.
Criminal justice terms explained (Government of BC)
If your first language is not English
In Canada people may ask to have their criminal trial or preliminary inquiry in English or French (or if circumstances warrant in both official languages). The right to apply for a trial in either official language (or a bilingual trial) is found in the Criminal Code section 530.
If you do not understand or speak English or French you may request a court interpreter.
Criminal court lists and letter codes
Criminal court lists, which show scheduled criminal cases, can be accessed from the provincial government website.
Court lists use specific letter codes to record the purpose of court appearances and their outcome. The letter codes are the same as the ones used in JUSTIN<p>A computer program providing criminal case tracking and court administration records. The term "JUSTIN record" usually refers to a record of criminal convictions based on data from JUSTIN.</p>, which is the database used to manage criminal cases in BC. To find the meaning of a letter code on a court list download the JUSTIN code table.
Criminal court lists (Government of BC)
JUSTIN code table (Government of BC)
Practice Directions and Criminal Caseflow Management Rules
The Criminal Caseflow Management Rules apply to criminal cases in Provincial Court. They are intended to reduce the number of court appearances that accused persons make before trial. They give specific instructions on certain aspects of criminal cases.
The Chief Judge has also issued Practice Directions to provide clarification and guidance about procedural matters in criminal cases.
Criminal Caseflow Management Rules
Information and services for victims of crime
Victims and Witnesses of Crime and Violence(Government of BC)
Victims of Crime (Government of Canada)
Publication bans
People may access information from court files or hear information when watching court proceedings that may be subject to a publication ban. This means they are prevented from publishing, transmitting or broadcasting that information. The Court’s BAN-1 Bans on Publication policy provides some examples of publication bans.