Complaint process
Asking the court to review the tribunal decision
Last updated: March 17, 2026
Page contents
- Overview
- Grounds for review
- Standard of review
- Time limit
- Applying for judicial review
- Serving the petition on the Tribunal
- More information
Overview
You can file a judicial review application in BC Supreme Court. In judicial review, the Court looks at the Tribunal’s decision or process to decide whether there is a “ground” for review.
If you file a judicial review application before the Tribunal’s process is finished, you will need to show “exceptional circumstances” for the Court to consider your application.
When you name the respondents to the petition, include the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal.
Grounds for review
You must show the Court that the Tribunal:
- Made an “error of law”, such as interpreting the Human Rights Code incorrectly.
- Made a finding of fact based on no evidence, or that is otherwise unreasonable, in light of all the evidence.
- Exercised its discretion in a patently unreasonable way, by exercising it arbitrarily, in bad faith, or for an improper purpose, basing the decision entirely or predominantly on irrelevant factors, or by failing to take statutory requirements into account.
- Had an unfair process.
To learn more about the tests that the court applies, see Standard of review
If the Tribunal made any of these errors, the Court will make an order “setting aside” the decision. Usually, the Court will make an order telling the Tribunal to reconsider the matter without making the same error. In some cases, the Court will stop the Tribunal’s process.
Standard of review
The “standard of review” is the test the court applies to decide if it can give a remedy. Usually, the remedy is to set aside a tribunal’s decision.
For the BC Human Rights Tribunal, the tests are set out in section 59 of the Administrative Tribunals Act.
There are four tests. The test depends on the kind of question the tribunal is answering.
- “Correctness”: if the tribunal is answering a question about its powers (called “jurisdiction”) or what the Human Rights Code means, the court can give a remedy if it decides if the tribunal was not correct
- “Unreasonableness”: if the tribunal is finding a fact after a hearing, the court can only give a remedy if there is no evidence to support the finding of fact or if the finding of fact is unreasonable
- “Patent unreasonableness”: if the tribunal is making a “discretionary decision” (described below), the court can only give a remedy if the decision was “patently unreasonable”. Most of the tribunal’s decisions are discretionary.
- “Unfairness”: this applies only to the tribunal’s process. The court can give a remedy if the tribunal’s process was unfair.
Learn more about what kind of question the tribunal decided and what test applies:
- Discretionary decisions
- Findings of fact
- Questions where the tribunal must be correct
- Procedural fairness
Time limit
Section 57 of the Administrative Tribunals Act says that you must start a judicial review of a final decision within 60 days of the date the decision was issued. The Court may extend the time in limited circumstances.
Applying for judicial review
In BC Supreme Court, judicial review is governed by Supreme Court Rule 16-1. You must follow that rule, including doing the following:
- Prepare a petition that sets out the orders you want the Court to make and the grounds of review.
- Include the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal as a respondent to the petition.
- Prepare an affidavit and attach the decision you want the Court to review, and any materials that were in front of the Tribunal that you need to show the Court that the Tribunal made an error.
- Pay a fee to file your petition and affidavit in BC Supreme Court.
- Serve a copy of your filed petition and affidavit on the other parties, the Tribunal, the Attorney General of British Columbia, and any person whose interests may be affected by the order you want the Court to make.
Serving the petition on the Tribunal
You may serve the Tribunal at its office:
BC Human Rights Tribunal
1270 – 605 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC, V6B 5J3
You may serve in two ways:
- By leaving a copy of the petition and supporting affidavit with a staff person at the Tribunal’s office.
If you ask someone else to serve the petition and affidavit, ensure that person gets the signature of the staff person who received the documents. - By registered mail to the Tribunal’s office.
Please note that the Tribunal is served when it receives the petition and supporting affidavit in one of these two ways.
More information
- The BC Supreme Court has information available for self-represented parties at their registries. See Judicial review guidebook
- The Community Legal Assistance Society (1-888-685-6222) has information and forms available on its website
- The BC Supreme Court Civil Rules (2010), including Rule 16-1