A: The four procedures are as follows:

Expedited Litigation Project (Rule 68 trial): This is a two-year pilot project that started September 1, 2005 in an effort to speed up and reduce the cost of court cases. In order for your case to fall under this procedure, your total damages claims must be less than $100,000. You must also file the lawsuit in one of four registries:

• Vancouver,
• Victoria,
• Prince George, and
• Nelson

If you file in New Westminster or Kelowna, for example, it does not apply. Many lawyers believe this procedure is better suited for contract disputes than for personal injury claims and don’t intend to start lawsuits in which they are “subject to Rule 68.”

While this procedure may result in the average injured person having to take even more steps before settlement or trial than would be required in a regular court procedure, it may well be useful for the injured person who wants to avoid the greater uncertainty of what a jury may award for damages (as compared to a judge) and the greater costs of a jury trial. The new Supreme Court Rule governing this procedure is at:

http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/sc/Rule%2068/BC%20Reg
%20177-2005%20%20-%20March%2029,%202005.pdf

Fast Track Litigation: This is an economical and speedy procedure for a Supreme Court judge to decide a very simple case that involves only a few lay and expert witnesses. The lawyers must agree that the entire trial, including witnesses’ testimony and argument, can be heard within two days (8 hours) of court time. This would be a much more useful procedure if the Supreme Court Rules were changed to allow 3- or 4-day trials to proceed under this rule. The Supreme Court Rule governing this procedure is at:

http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/reg/C/CourtRules/
CourtRules221_90/221_90e.htm#rule66

Small Claims Court – Provincial Court of British Columbia: If your claim for damages is $25,000 or less, you may sue in Small Claims Court. This court is designed for claimants who do not have a lawyer, but it would be very wise for you to obtain a few hours of legal advice before suing in Small Claims Court. Most people find it a very frustrating procedure, even if they have consulted a lawyer from time to time. You may have to attend court several times or reschedule your witnesses to obtain sufficient court time over several half-days or less to have your trial.

Provincial Court judges tend to be less generous in their awards for pain and suffering than do Supreme Court judges. Read some decisions and awards of Small Claims judges at its judgement database at:

http://www.provincialcourt.bc.ca/judgmentdatabase/index.html

You might want to type in the word “whiplash” and elect to read all judgements decided this year and then last year.

On the positive side, a ‘settlement conference procedure’ before a Provincial Court Judge is built in to this procedure. It may help you obtain a fair settlement if ICBC willingly cooperates at the conference. ICBC doesn’t willingly cooperate at a settlement conference in low-velocity accident cases when it has already decided not to compensate any damages—unless a court orders it to do so after a trial.

The home page of the Provincial Court of British Columbia is at:

http://www.provincialcourt.bc.ca/

The Small Claims Rules are at:

http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/reg/C/CourtRules/
CourtRules261_93/261_93.htm

Summary Trial: This is when a Supreme Court judge decides a case based mainly on reading sworn witness statements (affidavits) and expert reports and by hearing arguments by lawyers. The judge may also decide to hear some live testimony such as the cross examination of a few experts. This procedure might apply to a fairly straight forward case, but it will not be used if there are major concerns about the credibility of the injured person or if there are substantial conflicts in the evidence of witnesses for the two sides. The Supreme Court Rule governing this procedure is at:

http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/reg/C/CourtRules/
CourtRules221_90/221_90b.htm#rule18a

Each of these procedures has its advantages and disadvantages and each is most appropriate in certain situations. These are beyond the scope of this web site. You should obtain legal advice as to which procedure would be best for you.