Affidavits, aka sworn statement or written depositions, are the more frequent type of evidence used by our courts. While they do have their limitations and cannot be used in all hearings, affidavit evidence considerably reduces the time requirements of any justice system. But preparing affidavits is an art, not a science. Proceed with caution (and read this article).
ADR.
A good looking military acronym? Nope.
Alternative dispute resolution; an outside-of-the-Court method of resolving a disagreement or a "dispute" between two or more persons.
Prematurely announced as the saviour of a slow and out-of-touch Court system, ADR has instead entered the backdoor and is now firmly entrenched as a mainstay of modern judicial systems.
If you thought sitting ten feet below one judge dressed in funeral black was scary, wiat until you try it with three judges! But Courts of Appeal are well-intentioned and usually deliver the best justice in the province. The problem is ... well, read the article!
Why shoot yourself in the foot before you're even out of the gate?
More litigants feel the brunt of administrative law than any kind of law. That’s because admin law, as the lawyers call it, includes all the little tribunals that run amuck like little courts, with pretty much no appeal rights ... except judicial review, which, until recently, was an oxymoron. Now it’s ... well, still an oxymoron!
Legal aid: when the government subsidizes legal services for individual litigants in restricted areas such as where liberty is at risk (criminal law), family law and human rights.
Mediation can work but unless it’s free ... or especially if it’s free! - participants must be alive to the pitfalls and opportunities presented.
Québec stands out in Canada as the only jurisdiction dedicated to the codification of all its laws. Now,
circa 2007, all provinces have "codified" their laws in a set of "Revised Statutes". While Québec too, has a set of topical "revised statutes", it alone has published a one-stop-shop compendium of "common law",
le tres chic Civil Code.
Summary trial is now all the fashion in Canadian courthouses, allowing litigants to submit their dispute to judgment by way of written sworn evidence such as affidavits. Not all cases lend themselves to summary trial and even when the subject matter appears appropriate, other factors may argue against a trial other than by witnesses and documents being assessed under oath and in open court.
BC's highest Court can move like molasses but much depends on the cook. Find out "the recipes" herein.
Don't go to Court against a lawyer without it!