203 frontline service providers, advocates, librarians, law students, lawyers, and other legal information providers joined Chief Judge Melissa Gillespie and Judges Kathryn Ferriss and Kristen Mundstock on February 24, 2022, for an introduction to the online information resources the Provincial Court of British Columbia offers litigants.
In a webinar hosted by Courthouse Libraries BC, the judges demonstrated how litigants could navigate court proceedings in family, small claims, and traffic cases using information on the Court’s website www.provincialcourt.bc.ca.
The judges traced the steps a fictional young couple, Lina and Baz, might follow to get the information they’d need for a family court child support application, a small claims case about a debt, and a speeding ticket. They showed the aids the young couple would find on the Court’s website and the links they’d find there to other helpful tools and information.
Satisfied participants
Participants seemed to enjoy the webinar. One remarked, "This was so helpful. I had no idea that the BCPC website had such useful information. I will definitely refer people to it." Other comments made in an evaluation survey included:
“The format was fantastic. The use of a story and how it adapted to the various areas of law in the provincial court.”
“Fantastic session. Really appreciate this initiative from Provincial Court and especially Chief Judge Gillespie.”
“I enjoyed all speakers and topics.”
“The storyline example was great! Having screenshots of the Provincial Court website was helpful for following along and knowing what to look for when I use the site.”
“Great range of content covered. I think the Q&A portion was especially successful.”
Get the resources we shared
Megan Vis-Dunbar, Courthouse Libraries BC’s Liaison Lawyer and Manager, Local Libraries, assisted the Court in planning, promoting, and staging the webinar, and acted as moderator. Her expertise in webinar design and execution were invaluable. She also compiled a useful list of the Court’s resources showcased during the webinar as well as those from other legal information providers shared by participants, and created a video of the webinar that includes closed captions.
Desy Wahyuni, Courthouse Libraries BC’s Clicklaw Program Coordinator, contributed by updating the “Where do I start?” Clicklaw Common Questions pages containing curated lists of information resources for different types of Provincial Court matters:
• information resources for family court matters
• information resources for criminal matters
• information resources for small claims matters
• information resources for traffic court matters
The downloadable posters/handouts on these pages were provided for webinar participants.
Watch the webinar
You can watch a video of the Court’s webinar, get a list of resources shared and download materials. We encourage legal information providers to share these resources with staff and volunteers.
Coming next
The high interest in information about Provincial Court proceedings and the success of the webinar’s format prompted Legal Aid BC to partner with Courthouse Libraries BC to offer another free one-hour webinar to highlight the range of information and advice available from Legal Aid BC for self-represented litigants in BC Provincial Court. Intermediaries, advocates, public librarians, law students, and general practitioners are all invited to attend.
Tuesday, April 5, 2022
2:00 - 3:00pm (PDT)