Courthouse Libraries BC (CLBC) now offers free access to CSO E-search on all public access computers in our 30 branch locations.
You can already get a list of search results in CSO (https://justice.gov.bc.ca/cso) at no cost, but you’d normally pay a fee to open the case files and download documents. Now you can also do that for free at any CLBC branch. This is thanks to our partnership with the Ministry of Attorney General and the Court Services Branch—which is aimed at removing financial barriers to legal information.
Whether you are a legal professional, self-represented litigant, law student, individual, or intermediary, you’ll find CSO at CLBC is an excellent resource for your legal research.
Free access to all of CSO E-Search’s functionality unlocks millions of court documents from various types of case matters— from small claims to probate files, contested traffic tickets to appeals cases, foreclosures to class actions.
While certain case types are not on CSO because they contain sensitive information—like Supreme Court criminal cases, family law files, or court matters dealing with children—the vast majority of cases filed in BC courts over the past 15-plus years have at least some information accessible using CSO.
Here’s a sample of what you can do:
- Research companies and people
- Find useful precedents for how lawyers have prepared court forms in similar cases. And, if you are a lawyer, you won’t incur fees that need to be charged back to the client.
- Find pleadings that contain the legal basis for a case with references to other leading cases, important legislation, and court rules.
- Learn how to fill out legal forms without a lawyer, such as Notices of Claim, Responses, and other documents.
- Download file summaries and documents, as well as print them (where available)
This is a pilot project for 2024, which will be reviewed in 2025. The future of CLBC’s fee-exempt CSO E-search account depends, in large part, on how much you value and make use of it.
So come in and explore CSO E-search on our public access computers! (Please note that we are not able to provide document delivery from CSO to our clients. For the time being, you must be in one of our branches to use the service.)
Find a courthouse library here: https://www.courthouselibrary.ca/about-us/locations-contact-information
For help using the system, see this CSO E-Search User Guide.