To begin a judicial review, you need to file court documents with the BC Supreme Court, and provide filed copies of these documents to other parties.
A petition is the court form that starts your judicial review. It sets out what you are asking the court to do, why you are asking the court to do it, and the facts and evidence that form the basis for your judicial review.
Your petition will start with a heading on the first page. This heading is called the “style of proceeding” or “style of cause” and it gives basic information about the case: what court the case is filed in; what registry it is filed in; the court file number; and the parties to the judicial review. The “parties” are usually all the people, organizations, or companies that are involved in the dispute that led to the judicial review. For example, if you have a Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB) decision, the parties will be you and your landlord. You will also list the Director of the RTB and the Attorney General of British Columbia in the section called “On Notice To”.
Once you draft the style of proceeding you will use it on the first page of every court document you draft.
The petition will set out 4 things:
- The order that you are seeking from the court;
- The facts that this petition is based on;
- The legal basis that the petition will rely on in support of the orders; and
- The material to be relied on.
This is a blank petition for judicial review that you can download and fill in: Blank Petition for Judicial Review.
This is an example petition for judicial review that has already been filled out: Example Petition for Judicial Review