"Judgments", also called "reasons for judgment" or "reasons", are the explanation that the court gives at the conclusion of a hearing, explaining why an order is being made. By contrast, an "order" is the formal expression of the ruling of the court.

A judgment may be delivered immediately after the hearing ends. This is an oral judgment. At the end of a hearing, the judge will sometimes say, "judgment is reserved", which means that the judge or judges will take some time – days, weeks, or even months – to consider the matter. The majority of judgments are issued within three months of the hearing. Less frequently, the court will give a decision on an appeal but will issue reasons at a later date ("reasons to follow").

Reasons for judgment may be written or oral.

Oral reasons for judgment are automatically transcribed, but there may be a delay of several days or even weeks for them to be transcribed. The transcription is reviewed by the judge and signed, and that original is put into the court file. Transcribed oral judgments of the court are given a neutral citation and are posted onto the court's website; they are also provided to legal publishers. Transcribed chambers judgments, for the most part, are not sent to counsel or the parties (although they will be provided upon request). Some, but not all, are selected for publication and if so, they are given a neutral citation, are posted on the website, and given to legal publishers. To obtain a copy of either Court or chambers oral reasons for judgment, please follow the procedure set out in the Practice Note on the topic.

Reserve judgments, once signed by the judge or judges involved, are released by the pronouncement of a judge in chambers. Once released in chambers, copies are available at the registry for counsel or the parties involved. Counsel (or litigants in person), are advised several days in advance that a reserved judgment is to be released. After release, a copy of the judgment is posted on this website and made available to legal publishers.

The website is updated daily. Reserve judgments are posted by 12:00 noon of the day they are released in chambers. Oral judgments are posted after they have been signed by the judge.

The signed judgment, whether reserved or oral, is kept in a registry file. The signed judgment in the registry file is the official version of the reasons for judgment. In the event that there is a question about the content of a judgment, the signed judgment in the court file takes precedence. Copies of the judgment can be obtained by contacting the Vancouver registry. A photocopying charge is payable.

This website contains decisions of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia since 1990, but note that not every judgment since that date is available through this website. This database includes:

• written reserved reasons for judgment from the Court of Appeal and from Court of Appeal chambers;
• transcribed oral reasons for judgment of the Court of Appeal; and
• selected transcribed oral reasons for judgment from Court of Appeal chambers.

Many of the reasons for judgment on this website were converted from Word XP to text format, so all formatting, other than basic layout, has been removed. Typographical errors are corrected in the website database as they are identified.