BC Supreme Court Looking to Modify Rules of Contempt, Seeking Public Feedback

British Columbia’s Supreme Court is looking to modernize the rules of contempt in their justice system.

Rules of Contempt outline the corrective actions available when someone willfully violates a court order in the province.

However, the current rules only allow for fines or imprisonment as punishment, which does not reflect the range of the court’s more frequently used options.

Now, the BC Supreme Court Civil and Family Rules Committee are launching a green paper consultation to modernize the system.

They hope to provide clear and adequate procedures which will make it easier to get court assistance when other parties are disobeying court orders.

Options for where the rules can be improved are outlined in the paper, which is open for public feedback until March 25th, and is linked here.