Difference between revisions of "I Need to Take Someone to Court — What's the Process?"

# Decide whether you want to sue in Small Claims Court or BC Supreme Court. Ensure you are within the limitation period for doing so.

# Complete a Small Claims Court '''[http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/courts/forms/scl/scl001.pdf Notice of Claim]''' or Supreme Court '''[http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/courts/forms/sup_civil/1.pdf Notice of Civil Claim]'''. Small Claims forms are available online from the [http://j.mp/zW36nD Ministry of Justice website]. Supreme Court forms can be accessed through the "[http://j.mp/wMPUv5 Laws, Cases & Rules]" page on Clicklaw; click on "BC Supreme Court Civil Forms". Include the important facts related to your claim.

# Take the documents to the appropriate court registry, file them (there is a fee) and have them stamped.

# Serve a copy of the documents on the defendant. The usual way is to get a friend or a "process server" to give the documents to the defendant in person. The court registry can tell you about other ways you can serve documents.

| tips = You have to start a lawsuit within the '''limitation period''' for that type of claim. Some usual limitation periods are:

* two years for personal injury, defamation or damage to property

* six years for most debts and breaches of contract

* 10 years for fraudulent breach of trust

However, these limitation periods may be shorter for different types of defendants or claims. For example, written notice of a claim against a municipality must generally be given within '''two months''' and the court action against the municipality started within '''six months'''.

| text      = '''Alert:''' Extensive changes to BC's ''Limitation Act'' are expected to come into force on June 1, 2013. Many of the current limitation periods will be significantly shortened. If you have suffered a loss or damage, it's important that you start an action promptly or you may lose your right to sue. How these changes to the Limitation Act will affect you depends on the details of your claim. If you have any questions about limitation periods relevant to your claim, you should seek legal advice as soon as possible. <br>

The defendant will need to file a '''Reply''' and provide you with a copy. You and the defendant will then receive a '''Notice of Settlement Conference'''. A settlement conference is an opportunity for you and the defendant to meet with a judge to see if you can agree to resolve the claim. The judge at a settlement conference is only there to help see if the parties can agree on a settlement. He or she cannot impose an agreement.

If the settlement conference doesn't resolve the case, you will be given a '''Notice of Trial'''. At trial, you will present your case, and the defendant will be given a chance to present his or her case. The trial judge will then decide who wins.

The defendant must file and provide you with a '''Response to Civil Claim''' in response to your '''Notice of Civil Claim'''. During the next stage of a Supreme Court proceeding, known as '''discovery''', the parties exchange documents and may cross-examine each other outside of court. Finally, if the case is not resolved, it will proceed to '''trial'''. At trial, you will need to present your evidence through witnesses and the defendant will need to do the same. At the end of the trial, the judge (or in some cases, a jury) will decide who wins.

| tips = If the defendant does not file a Reply in Small Claims Court or a Response to Civil Claim in Supreme Court, you can apply to the court for a '''default judgment''' giving you all or part of your claim.

See the [[Resource List]] for a list of helpful resources. Your best bets are:

* [[Access Pro Bono]], [[Lawyer Referral Service]], and [[Private Bar Lawyers]].

{{Template:Legal Help Guide Disclaimer}}