How Do I Find an Order or Another Court Document?

This information is for people who have already been to court and need to find a copy of a document prepared in that court proceeding, such as a court order or an affidavit.

There is no central registry for court records and documents. To get a copy of a court document you must go to the particular court that dealt with your proceeding, since that's the court registry that will have your file.

Family law files are sealed from the general public, except for lawyers and the parties to the proceeding. Make sure you bring some photo ID.

If you no longer live near the court that dealt with your proceeding, it may be possible to have someone who lives there pick it up for you. That person will need, at a minimum, a letter from you authorizing him or her to search your court file. Check with the court registry to find out exactly what they'll need to see to before they release your file to someone other than you.

There are a few other things that are good to know:

• the court will not let you take your file out of the courthouse,
• the court will not let you take a document from your file, but you can get photocopies made (be warned, copying is $1 per page in the Supreme Court),
• the court will only have files that are less than three or so years old available at hand,
• files that are three to seven years old may be in on-site storage, and there will be a delay of a few hours before the court can get the file for you, and
• files older than seven or so years are usually stored off-site, and there will be a delay of a few days while the file is retrieved.

You can find more information about orders and other court documents in the chapter Resolving Family Law Problems in Court.

This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by Thomas Wallwork, September 27, 2014.

JP Boyd on Family Law © John-Paul Boyd and Courthouse Libraries BC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada Licence.

Normally referred to as the "Supreme Court of British Columbia," this court hears most of the trials in this province. The Supreme Court is a court of inherent jurisdiction and has no limits on the sorts of claims it can hear or on the sorts of orders it can make. Decisions of the Provincial Court are appealed to the Supreme Court; decisions of the Supreme Court are appealed to the Court of Appeal. See "Court of Appeal," "jurisdiction," "Provincial Court" and "Supreme Court of Canada."

A court established and staffed by the provincial government, which includes Small Claims Court, Youth Court, and Family Court. The Provincial Court is the lowest level of court in British Columbia and is restricted in the sorts of matters it can deal with. It is, however, the most accessible of the two trial courts and no fees are charged to begin or defend a family law proceeding. The Family Court of the Provincial Court cannot deal with the division of family property or any claims under the Divorce Act. See "Divorce Act," "judge" and "jurisdiction."

A legal proceeding in which one party sues another for a specific remedy or relief, also called an "action," a "lawsuit," or a "case." A court proceeding for divorce, for example, is a proceeding in which the claimant sues the respondent for the relief of a divorce order.

A mandatory direction of the court that is binding and enforceable upon the parties to a court proceeding. An "interim order" is a temporary order made following the hearing of an interim application. A "final order" is a permanent order, made following the trial of the court proceeding or the parties' settlement, following which the only recourse open to a dissatisfied party is to appeal. Failing to abide by the terms of an order may constitute contempt of court. See "appeal," "consent order," "contempt of court," "decision" and "declaration."

A legal document in which a person provides evidence of certain facts and events in writing. The person making the affidavit, the deponent, must confirm that the statements made in the affidavit are true by oath or affirmation. Affidavits must be signed in front of a lawyer, a notary public or a commissioner for taking oaths, who takes the oath or affirmation of the deponent. Affidavits are used as evidence, just as if the person making the affidavit had made the statements as a witness at trial. See "deponent", "affirm," "oath" and "witness."

(1) A central office, located in each judicial district, at which the court files for each court proceeding in that district are maintained, and at which legal documents can be filed, searched, and reviewed, or (2) a courthouse.

In law, (1) the whole of the conduct of a court proceeding, from beginning to end, and the steps in between, may also be used to refer to (2) a specific hearing or trial. See "action."

A central office, located in each judicial district, at which the court files for each court proceeding in that district are maintained, and at which legal documents can be filed, searched and reviewed.