The BC Provincial Court launched a new website in beta during the week of September 16. We are asking site users to help us improve it by giving us feedback and you have! We’ve used your input to improve the site as we test it, but we’re not done yet. Please use the survey form on the website’s home page to keep the feedback coming!

Here are some of the comments we’ve received so far and the changes we’ve made. 

We were pleased to get positive comments like:

“The website was very easy to use.”

“It looks great!”

“I love the new website. It is easy to navigate and is in plain language for self-represented litigants and members of the public.”

“The new Provincial Court website has a clean, modern design. It feels authoritative, while providing content in plain language. Really helpful information in Navigating a Court Case.”

“This website is much easier to have access to justice. I like the adding of the unbundled legal advice and services. Very informative.”

But technical challenges meant the site was sometimes inaccessible and sometimes not functioning well during its first week. We are grateful to everyone who bore with us through the hiccups. We’ve fixed any broken links you identified and resolved the discrepancy between our Recent judgments page and the CanLII database of Provincial Court judgments. 

Most of our web page URLs have changed, so we’ve prepared a re-direct list with links for about 100 of the most popular pages including eNews articles, information about judicial officers, and standard court order wording picklists. You can use the re-direct list to update your bookmarks or favourites. 

Longtime Provincial Court website users asked about favourite pages they couldn’t find. Our old website had a lot of good information, but it was like an over-stuffed closet where it can be hard to find the one thing you’re looking for. 

The new site doesn’t include everything from our old site. For example, you won’t find our small claims, family, and traffic court guides on the new site. Instead, we’ve included some of the guides’ information on new web pages and added links to other websites that provide up-to-date, easy-to-understand information on Provincial Court procedures. Our re-direct list includes new links for guide contents.

In response to other suggestions, we’ve added information on preparing and bringing documents to court and on testimonial accommodations for vulnerable witnesses. The Search function of the new site works well, but we’ve added links to the Appeals and complaints and Recent judgment pages to the home page to provide quick access to them. 

One user regretted that the new court calendar shows entries by month rather than year. We can't change that, but you can choose to view the calendar either by “month” or “list”, and “list” provides all calendar entries for a year. 

Some website users found the layout of our former home page more convenient. The new layout requires users to scroll down, particularly to find shortcuts and news in Court updates and eNews. We recognize this, but the new site is designed to make it easy for litigants to find the information they need so that’s what’s at the top. A new site was needed because our 11-year-old website used an out-dated management system, it was not mobile-friendly, and it did not meet accessibility standards. We hope longtime users will adjust to the new design. 

These are just some of the changes we’re making as people explore the Court’s new website. Please keep your feedback coming. With your help we can continue to make it work better for litigants, legal professionals, media and the public.  

www.provincialcourt.bc.ca the Court’s new website

Provincial Court Redirect Links.pdf update your links with this list