Legal Resources

The Crime Victim Assistance Program is a financial benefits program that assists victims, immediate family members, and some witnesses. This information sheet is part of the Help Starts Here series and provides information about financial assistance and benefits for victims of violent crime.

If you’ve been the victim of a violent crime, you may be entitled to financial assistance to offset financial losses and help with recovery. The Crime Victim Assistance Program helps victims, immediate family members, and some witnesses to help with the effects of violent crime.

The BC Prosecution Service is made up of about 500 Crown counsel, lawyers who act as prosecutors on behalf of society as a whole. Its role is to provide impartial decision-making in criminal justice. Includes information about the charging process, sentencing, bail, and victim impact statements.

Services and resources are available to support people who are accused or convicted (offenders) of committing a crime. This page guides you to information about some of these services and resources.

Comprehensive information about the criminal justice system in BC, with separate guides for victims of crime, witnesses, and those accused or convicted of crime and their family members.

The alternative measures program allows you to deal with the charges against you outside the court process. This resource from the Government of BC explains who can be considered for alternative measures and what they include.

This page provides court forms used in criminal law matters. The forms are in PDF format that you can fill out and print.

This page gives instructions on how to begin an appeal of your sentence or conviction in a criminal case.

This guide helps women and anti-violence workers preserve digital evidence in situations involving technology-facilitated violence against women. It includes the laws and best practices, tech-specific guides, info on courts, legal options for self-represented litigants, and tech-safety resources.

This resource has information for self-represented litigants (SRLs) who have been accused of a crime and are appearing in Canadian criminal court. It includes SRL’s rights and responsibilities, first steps in your criminal case, bail, building your defence, legal research, court processes, jury, sentencing, and more.