If you would like to challenge the decision of an administrative decision maker or tribunal, the first thing you should find out is whether there is a process to review or challenge the decision. Many administrative decision makers have an internal process to challenge a decision, like a review or appeal. For example, if you have a decision from the Review Division of WorkSafeBC, you may be able to appeal that decision to the Workers’ Compensation Appeal 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). If you have a right to appeal to WCB’s review division or the Workers Compensation Appeal Tribunal, you must do that before filing for judicial review.