838 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 79 PART 6 NOVEMBER 2021
There is a degree of variation between the changes for chambers matters
and those for trial matters: chambers matters were only about one third
longer, but the length of time it took for reasons to be issued almost tripled. In
contrast, the length of trials went up by one hundred and thirty-five per cent,
but the time it took for judgments to be issued increased by a smaller margin.
For both chambers and trial decisions, judgments got considerably longer.
Next, consider the data classified by subject matter of the underlying proceeding,
using the general subject matter categories of criminal, family,
general civil and administrative law:
B.C. Supreme Court
Data by Year – Subject Matter (Disaggregated)
Year Type Average Average time Average
length of between length of
hearing hearing and judgment
(days) judgment (paragraphs)
(days)
1970 Criminal 2.8 13.2 21.0
Family 1.4 55.1 14.0
General Civil 2.6 27.6 18.5
Administrative 1.7 12.7 10.3
1980 Criminal 1.3 16.0 14.7
Family 1.9 26.9 17.5
General Civil 2.7 30.0 19.4
Administrative 2.1 21.5 23.0
1990 Criminal 2.4 33.4 24.0
Family 2.6 45.4 31.4
General Civil 2.7 40.0 31.9
Administrative 1.6 44.4 33.8
2000 Criminal 4.5 22.2 42.2
Family 3.1 43.1 37.7
General Civil 3.0 50.9 37.7
Administrative 2.3 51.6 46.2
2010 Criminal 3.4 23.2 52.2
Family 3.5 69.0 65.4
General Civil 3.5 64.3 65.6
Administrative 2.0 67.3 59.4
2015 Criminal 4.2 30.4 67.8
Family 3.8 65.6 84.9
General Civil 3.4 64.0 75.7
Administrative 2.7 78.1 72.4