Judgments & Decisions

Provincial Court judges make thousands of decisions each year. The reasons they give for their decisions are sometimes called “judgments”, “reasons”, or just “decisions”. Often, Provincial Court judges explain their reasons by speaking to the people in the courtroom. This is called an “oral judgment”. A judge may also prepare written reasons (in some cases reading them aloud in court) and they will be placed in the court file.

Some of these written reasons are posted online on the CanLII (Canadian Legal Information Institute) databank, particularly in cases of public interest or involving a point of law. In a high-profile case, written reasons may be posted on the home page of the Court’s website www.provincialcourt.bc.ca under "Recent Judgments", for the first few days after they are issued until they can be posted on CanLII.

Use the "Search Judgments" button to find BC Provincial Court judgments on CanLII. See how to obtain oral and written judgments if there's no judgment online on CanLII.

Legal research guides

To receive an RSS feed of all B.C. Provincial Court decisions posted on CanLII, see CanLII ProvCourt RSS feed (Internet Explorer works better for this than Chrome)

Glossaries and translation

Recent Provincial Court Judgments

Key Words: Municipal law — Bylaws and resolutions — Validity
2023-09-05 - R. v. Bakhtiarian
Key Words: Criminal law — Assault — Evidence
2023-08-28 - R. v. Browning
Key Words: Criminal law — Assault — Sentencing — Public authorities — Police
Key Words: Real property — Commercial law — Contract law — Terms
2023-08-22 - R. v. Loring
Key Words: Criminal law — Fraud — Sentencing — Property offences — Theft over $5,000
2023-08-22 - R. v. Grafton
Key Words: Criminal law — Assault — Defences
2023-08-17 - R. v. Maclean
Key Words: Criminal law — Charter of Rights — Section 11(b
2023-08-09 - S.T.B. v. C.A.T.
Key Words: Family law — Costs — Matrimonial proceedings — Indemnity
2023-08-09 - R. v. Sandoval
Key Words: Criminal law — Weapons — Firearms
2023-08-05 - R. v. Timmers
Key Words: Criminal law — Weapons — Possession of prohibited weapon — Possession while prohibited — Sentencing
2023-08-02 - R. v. Hoelzley
Key Words: Criminal law — Motor vehicle offences — Driving without due care and attention
2023-07-31 - R. v. Wright
Key Words: Criminal law — Sexual offences — Possession of child pornography
Key Words: Criminal law — Commercial law — Environmental law — Waste management offences
2023-07-24 - R. v. M.L.D.D.
Key Words: Criminal law — Offences against persons — Failure to provide necessaries of life
2023-07-24 - R. v. George
Key Words: Criminal law — Mischief — Sentencing — Offences against persons — Threats and intimidation
2023-07-21 - R. v. Der
Key Words: Criminal law — Drug offences — Possession for purposes of trafficking — Sentencing — Aboriginal persons
Key Words: Family law — Public authorities — Mental health
2023-07-19 - R. v. Guenter
Key Words: Criminal law — Search and seizure — Search warrants — Charter of Rights — Section 8
2023-07-19 - R. v. Woolman
Key Words: Criminal law — Assault — Assault causing bodily harm — Sentencing — Considerations
2023-07-18 - R. v. Probe
Key Words: Criminal law — Arrest — Warrantless arrests — Search and seizure — Search incidental to arrest — Sections 8, 9