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Difference between revisions of "The Court System for Family Matters"
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The Court System for Family Matters (view source)
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{{JP Boyd on Family Law TOC|expanded = intro}} | {{JP Boyd on Family Law TOC|expanded = intro}} | ||
There are three levels of court in British Columbia | There are three levels of court in British Columbia: the Provincial Court, the Supreme Court, and the Court of Appeal. | ||
This page | Above all of these courts is the Supreme Court of Canada, the highest court in Canada. | ||
The Provincial Court and the Supreme Court are trial courts; the Court of Appeal only hears appeals. The Provincial Court has limited authority, but the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal are our province's superior courts. Their jurisdiction is limited only by their rules and the constitution. | |||
This page provides an introduction to the Provincial Court, the Supreme Court, and the Court of Appeal. | |||
==Introduction== | ==Introduction== | ||
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Our court system has its origins hundreds of years ago in England. In the middle ages, people would come to the king on special days set aside for the hearing of "petitions," complaints made by someone (the ''petitioner'') against someone else (the ''respondent''). If the petition was heard, the king would make a decision and impose his judgment on the parties, putting an end to the complaint. | Our court system has its origins hundreds of years ago in England. In the middle ages, people would come to the king on special days set aside for the hearing of "petitions," complaints made by someone (the ''petitioner'') against someone else (the ''respondent''). If the petition was heard, the king would make a decision and impose his judgment on the parties, putting an end to the complaint. | ||
As the rule of law became more and more important in maintaining a civil society, kings and queens began to farm out the job of hearing petitions to people specially appointed to hear them called judges. Eventually the monarchy got out of the business altogether, and left the hearing of petitions only to the judges. The English court system became more complex as time went on, and different types of courts, like the Courts of Equity and the Courts of the Exchequer, were eventually set up to deal with different kinds of problems. | As the rule of law became more and more important in maintaining a civil society, kings and queens began to farm out the job of hearing petitions to people specially appointed to hear them, called judges. Eventually the monarchy got out of the business altogether, and left the hearing of petitions only to the judges. The English court system became more complex as time went on, and different types of courts, like the Courts of Equity and the Courts of the Exchequer, were eventually set up to deal with different kinds of problems. | ||
The English court system was brought to British Columbia when the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia were founded in the middle of the nineteenth century. Our local court system was brought into the Canadian system when British Columbia entered confederation in 1871. | The English court system was brought to British Columbia when the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia were founded in the middle of the nineteenth century. Our local court system was brought into the Canadian system when British Columbia entered confederation in 1871. | ||