BC Judicial Review Self-Help Guide

A judicial review is a court action in which a judge reviews the decision of a tribunal or other legal decision-maker for serious errors or unfairness.

Tribunals are decision-makers set up by the government to resolve disputes and make decisions. For example, the Residential Tenancy Branch is a tribunal that adjudicates disputes between tenants and landlords. The Employment and Assistance Appeal Tribunal is a tribunal that considers appeals about income assistance and disability assistance.

This website explains how to represent yourself in a judicial review in the BC Supreme Court. It does not apply to judicial reviews in other courts such as the Federal Court (Canada). Select the tribunal that you have a decision from to learn more about the steps involved in a judicial review:

• Residential Tenancy Branch
• Human Rights Tribunal
• Employment and Assistance Appeal Tribunal
• Employment Standards Tribunal
• Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal
• Other… Agricultural Land Commission Community Care and Assisted Living Appeal Board Director of Adoption Farm Industry Review Board Financial Services Tribunal Health Professions Review Board Hospital Appeal Board Industry Training Appeal Board Mental Health Review Panels Surface Rights Board Passenger Transportation Board Safety Standards Appeal Board WorkSafeBC Other – my decision-maker is not listed here

We recommend the use of the above web-based versions of the guide. If you are looking for a PDF version of the guide to print out, see this site’s print publications section. If you have any problems opening up the blank or example documents, please email us at [email protected] and tell us which documents you are having trouble with.

Judicial Review Blog Series

In these blog series, we provide a basic explanation of the main elements of Judicial Review. (Please note, these links will take you to another website.)

Intro to Judicial Review

Part 1: What is Judicial Review?
Part 2: Stay Applications
Part 3: Administrative Tribunals
Part 4: Glossary of Terms
Part 5: The Basics of Patent Unreasonableness
Part 6: The Basics of Procedural Fairness

Advanced Topics in Judicial Review

1. Adequacy of Reasons