A chamber application is the process used to request a decision from the court, before trial begins or sometimes, during a trial before a final decision is made. The name “chambers” refers to a time in the past when a judge’s office was called their chambers. Certain applications would be heard by the judge and decided in their chambers.

You may need to submit or respond to an application to court before a decision is made in your trial.

NOTE: This Guidebook does not provide legal advice and must not be used as a substitute for the advice that a lawyer may provide. This Guidebook provides general information to help people with matters in the BC Supreme Court.

What Are Chambers Proceedings?

Applications are a type of “chambers” proceeding. All applications are heard “in chambers.” This does not mean that they are heard in the judge’s “chambers” or office — they are still heard in open court and the hearings are audio taped.

For example, a party in a family law case may submit a chambers application to request an interim order for child support.

Chambers proceedings differ from trials in these ways:

• Evidence is generally presented in the form of affidavits, which are written statements (instead of by witnesses)
• Lawyers and the judge do not wear robes
• If they are for less than two hours, they can be scheduled for any day on which the court sits (trial dates have to be reserved with the trial scheduling division of the registry)

In proceedings that start with a Notice of Family Claim, applications usually deal with procedural issues, parenting concerns or property issues that come up as your case proceeds through the steps leading to trial.

For example, you may believe another party has documents that have not been produced or you may be having trouble getting another party to show up at an examination for discovery. In this case, you can apply to the court for an order that the party produce documents or shows up at an examination for discovery. These are practical problems that can come up in moving your case forward and they are often the subject of applications.

Before making family law applications, the parties must participate in a Judicial Case Conference as per Rule 7-1(2), unless they fall within an exception under Rule 7-1(3).

Should You Make an Application?

If you think you have a problem in your case that could be resolved by a court order and you have been unable to agree with the other party on how to resolve it, you may need to make an application to court.

Your application will be heard by a judge or associate judge. Before you submit an application to the court, take these steps:

• Know that the problem you’re trying to solve is one that can be resolved by an application
• Understand the law and the rules governing your application
• Follow all the rules and meet all the deadlines governing applications
• Complete the correct documents
• Be prepared to argue your application before a judge or an associate judge

Remember that preparing for and attending at a chambers application will cost you time and money. First, try to resolve the problem without resorting to a court application.

What Rules Apply?

There are several rules governing applications and you will need to understand how each of them applies to your case.

Part 10 of the Supreme Court Family Rules covers procedure and affidavits for chambers applications. you will also want to review the practice directions related to Chambers Practice.

Who Can Make a Decision in the Application?

Both judges and associate judge(s) hear applications; however, in most cases a associate judge will hear your application.

A associate judge has a job very similar to a judge. They sit in court, hear applications, and make decisions. There are however some orders that a associate judge can not do that a judge can. In general, a associate judge cannot hear an application that results in a final order (one that ends the case). This means that you would not appear before a associate judge for a summary trial.

When preparing the documents for your application, you must state whether your application is within the jurisdiction of (in other words, can be heard by) a judge or associate judge. Make sure that you know whether your application needs to be heard by a judge. If you appear before a associate judge who cannot hear your application, you will be forced to reschedule your hearing.