How Do I Find an Order or Another Court Document?

Introduction

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.

Locating court documents

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. The BC Government has an online directory of courthouse locations with contact information.

Restrictions on accessing family law files

Overall, the Chief Judge of the Provincial Court and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court have the primary responsibility for establishing policies on access to court records for their respective courts. The Court Services Branch of the Ministry of Attorney General, which runs the registries, is responsible for maintaining court records and following these policies. In general, these court records access policies aim to strike a balance between sometimes conflicting objectives:

• promoting transparency and the established rule that courts be open to the public,
• ensuring compliance with legislation that restricts disclosure in certain cases, and
• curtailing access as necessary:
  • to protect social values of critical importance (for example the privacy of children),
  • where the ends of justice would be subverted by disclosure, or
  • where documents in the court file might be used for an improper purpose.

Due to their nature, family law proceedings are among the more restricted types of court files. Generally speaking, a family law proceeding is any case that involves:

• the Divorce Act
• the Family Law Act
• the Family Maintenance Enforcement Act
• adoption proceedings,
• child protection proceedings, or anything under the Child, Family & Community Service Act (CFCSA), and
• Adult Guardianship Act proceedings.

For most family law proceedings, with the exception of adoption, child protection, or adult guardianship proceedings which are more tightly restricted, the public can learn basic docket information about a proceeding. Basic docket information includes the names of the parties, the file number, and where and when it was filed, but nothing more.

To read actual court files in a family law proceeding, you must be a party or a lawyer. And even then, there are limits and exceptions:

• In adoption proceedings, only the Director of Adoptions can search the file without an order of the court.
• For CFCSA proceedings, only the parties and their lawyers (not just any lawyer) can search the file without a court order.
• For any family law proceeding, only the parties and their lawyers (not just any lawyer) may search for court exhibits (things entered as evidence at trial or a hearing, but not things attached to an affidavit) without a court order.
• For transcripts of informal hearings (e.g. judicial case conferences, case planning conferences, and settlement conferences, as opposed to trials or chambers hearings), no one can get access without a court order.

Be sure to read the relevant records access policy for the court you're in. And make sure you bring some photo ID if you are a party and want to go to the registry to see your court file.

Requesting copies and costs

When visiting a court registry to request court documents, please be aware that you can look at the file without charge, but there is a fee for the registry staff to produce copies of documents in the court file. They usually accept payment in cash or debit card only. Credit cards are not typically accepted.

Authorization for third-party document retrieval

If you no longer live near the court that dealt with your proceeding, or if it is difficult for you to appear in person at the registry, it may be possible to have someone else pick it up for you. That person will need, at a minimum, a letter from you to show they are a "person authorized in writing by a party" so that they can search the court file and get copies of documents on your behalf. Check with the court registry to find out exactly what the registry staff need to see before they release your file to someone other than you.

Understanding document availability

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.

Also note that court files older than 15 years are generally destroyed, with the exception of certain materials like court orders which are sent to BC Archives. For information about archived court documents read the handy online information page from Courthouse Libraries BC's Our Legal Knowledge Base: Court Documents at the Provincial Archives

More information

For more information refer to:

• BC Supreme Court's policy:Policy on Access to the Court Record
• BC Provincial Court's policy: Access to Court Records
• Courthouse Libraries BC's information pages on:
  • Can I Access Court Files?
  • Court Documents at the Provincial Archives

This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by Negin Saberi, September 15, 2023.

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.

Under the old Divorce Act, the schedule of a parent's time with their children under an order or agreement, replaced with "parenting time" and "contact" in the new Divorce Act. Access usually referred to the schedule of the parent with the least amount of time with the child. See "contact," "custody" and "parenting time."

An act; a statute; a written law made by a government. See "regulations."

A step in a court proceeding in which each party advises the other of the documents in their possession which relate to the issues in the court proceeding and produces copies of any documents the other side requests before trial. This process is regulated by the rules of court, which put each party under an ongoing obligation to continue to advise the other of new documents coming into their possession or control. The purpose of this step is to encourage the settlement of court proceedings and to prevent a party from springing new evidence on the other party at trial.

A judge of the superior courts of British Columbia, being the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.

(1) In law, a court proceeding; a lawsuit; an action; a cause of action; a claim. (2) A historic decision of the court; case law. See "action," "case law, " "court proceeding," and "precedent."

In family law, the act or process of taking another person's child as one's own. The child becomes the adopting parent's legal child as if the child were the adopting parent's natural child, while the natural parent loses all rights and obligations with respect to the child. See "natural parent."

A person who is younger than the legal age of majority, 19 in British Columbia. See "age of majority."

In law, a person named as an applicant, claimant, respondent, or third party in a court proceeding; someone asserting a claim in a court proceeding or against whom a claim has been brought. See "action" and "litigant."

A person licensed to practice law in a particular jurisdiction by that jurisdiction's law society. See "barrister and solicitor."

Facts, or proof tending to support the existence of facts, presented to a judge at a hearing or trial. Evidence can be given through the oral testimony of witnesses, in writing as business records and other documents, or in the form of physical objects. Evidence must be admissible according to the rules of court and the rules of evidence. See "circumstantial evidence," "hearsay" and "testimony."

The testing of the claims in a court proceeding at a formal hearing before a judge with the jurisdiction to hear the proceeding. The parties present their evidence and arguments to the judge, who then makes a decision resolving the parties' claims against one another that is final and binding on the parties unless successfully appealed. See "action," "appeal," "argument," "claim," "evidence" and "jurisdiction."

In law, any proceeding before a judicial official to determine questions of law and questions of fact, including the hearing of an application and the hearing of a trial. See "decision."

A resolution of one or more issues in a court proceeding or legal dispute with the agreement of the parties to the proceeding or dispute, usually recorded in a written agreement or in an order that all parties agree the court should make. A court proceeding can be settled at any time before the conclusion of trial. See "action," "consent order," "family law agreements" and "offer."

A type of hearing in the BC Supreme Court, where a judge or an associate judge hears applications. Unlike trials, evidence is presented through affidavits instead of live witnesses, the proceedings are less formal (no one wears robes), and the result is often an interim order instead of a final order. Chambers can address procedural issues, but also interim orders dealing with parenting or support concerns, or other issues that come up before a family law trial is held.

In law, a calculation of the allowable legal expenses of a party to a court proceeding, as determined by the Supreme Court Family Rules. The party who is most successful in a court proceeding is usually awarded their "costs" of the proceeding. See "account," "bill of costs," "Certificate of Costs or Expenses" and "lawyer's fees."