You may want to consider judicial review if you have received a decision from a tribunal which did not go in your favour and you believe that the decision was unreasonable or unfair. Examples include:
- A decision about your welfare (income assistance) from the Employment and Assistance Appeal Tribunal
- A decision about your employment standards claim from the Employment Standards Tribunal
- A decision about your workers’ compensation benefits from the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal
- A decision about your human rights claim from the Human Rights Tribunal
A judicial review is a request to the BC Supreme Court to evaluate the decision made by the tribunal and decide whether or not it was unreasonable or unfair. Judicial review can only be undertaken when you have exhausted all internal appeals at the tribunal. This means that generally you cannot judicially review a lower-level decision (for instance, an investigation conducted by the WCB office) until it reaches the highest level (such as the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal).
This section of the website will help you decide what to do after you’ve received the decision. It will give you an overview of the different options available besides judicial review, such as negotiating with the other party or filing a complaint with the ombudsperson.
If you decide to proceed with a judicial review, this guide will help you prepare for court, tell you how to apply for fee waivers, how to file the judicial review, how you should properly serve documents to parties and how you can apply for fee waivers. It will also tell you what is most likely to happen during the hearing at the BC Supreme Court and where you can look to for assistance with your judicial review.
If you are confused about any part of this guide, you can ask us a question using our online intake form.
Start with looking at your options.