Difference between revisions of "Small Claims Appeals (20:XVI)"

Any party to a proceeding may appeal to the Supreme Court an order to allow or dismiss a claim if the judge made the order after a trial (''SCA'', s 5). An appeal must be started within 40 days, beginning on the day after the order of the Provincial Court is made (''SCA'', s 6). A review of the order under appeal may be on questions of fact or law (''SCA,'' s 12(a)). A mistake of fact could involve a misunderstanding by the Judge of evidence given by a witness. For example, if a witness reported that a particular event happened and, in the decision, the judge bases their decision on the fact that event didn’t happen, there could be a basis for an appeal. A mistake of law occurs where the Judge makes an error in deciding which law should apply. Not every error made by a Small Claims Court judge will be the basis for a successful appeal. The test which the Supreme Court Judge must apply is called the “clearly wrong test”. If the Small Claims Court judge’s decision about the facts or the law is not clearly wrong, the appeal will fail. An appeal is usually not a new trial; it will be based on the transcripts of the trial in Small Claims Court. The Supreme Court may, however, exercise its discretion to hear the appeal as a new trial (''SCA'', s 12(b)). No new evidence may be adduced at the appeal without leave of the court (Practice Direction: Standard Directions for Appeals from Provincial Court; ''SCA'', s 12).  

For claims that do not fit the criteria for an appeal, the ''Judicial Review Procedure Act'', RSBC 1996, c 241, allows the Supreme Court of British Columbia to review decisions made by Provincial Court judges prior to trial. This includes interlocutory orders, the dismissal of a claim at a settlement conference, and adjudicator decisions in Simplified Trials under Rule 9.1. The appropriate standard of review for orders subject to judicial  review is reasonableness (''[http://canlii.ca/t/242ln 0763486 BC Ltd. v Landmark Realty Corp]'', 2009 BCSC 810 (CanLII); ''[http://canlii.ca/t/52tl Wood and Lauder v Siwak]'', 2000 BCSC 397 (CanLII); ''Der v Giles'', [2003] BCJ No 938; and ''Nicholson v Lum'', [1996] BCJ No 860). For further information on judicial review, see '''Chapter 5: Public Complaints'''.

You must act quickly if you wish to appeal a decision as there are many steps involved and only a short a period of time. Within 40 days of the order being made (''SCA'', s 6), an appellant must, in one day, do all of the following:  

On hearing an appeal, the Supreme Court may make any order that could be made by the Provincial Court, impose reasonable terms and conditions on an order, make any additional order it considers just, and award costs to any party under the ''Supreme Court Civil Rules'' (BC Reg 168/2009 and amendments thereto). '''There is no further appeal from a Supreme Court order''' (''SCA'', s 7).