Criminal Justice Branch Headquarters operational records
- GR-3632
- Series
- 1970-2008
The series consists of operational records of the Criminal Justice Branch Headquarters created between 1970 and 2008. The records consist of correspondence, reports, court documents, photographs, sound and moving picture records, and electronic records created across the province. The series documents policy and procedures on matters relating to criminal and social regulatory laws and their enforcement, and includes analyses of new and established legislation and the prosecutions of offenses prohibited under the federal Criminal Code, provincial statutes, and municipal bylaws. The series provides evidence of interactions between British Columbians and their criminal justice system, and documents the development of, and changes in, the criminal justice system in British Columbia. The records were created in the course of the Branch’s activities of providing legal advice on criminal law to government and to the police, and in developing policies, procedures, and programs on issues of criminal law and relating to the prosecution of criminal cases.
Although the records relate to a variety of topics, they have been treated as one series. The records arrived at the Archives largely interfiled, and there is evidence to suggest that the files were maintained in one central filing system at the Criminal Justice Branch Headquarters. In order to assist researchers, a high-level subject index has been created for the boxes. This should not be treated as exhaustive, and researchers are strongly advised to consult the file list.
The series is arranged loosely by broad topic. Records relating to one particular case or aspect of the BC justice system are often grouped together, although there are multiple groupings of the same type of record spread across the accession. Records dealing with Aboriginal hunting and fishing offences are generally arranged alphabetically by name of alleged offender. Many of the records were arranged alphabetically by subject in multiple groupings. Records in accession 91-0129 were arranged by file number rather than by topical grouping.
Audio-visual records were removed from their original files and placed in containers 910132-0013, 910132-0014, and 910132-0118 for preservation purposes, and separation sheets have been included in these boxes to link the records with the original file. Printouts from CDs and floppy disks have generally been included alongside the electronic media in the original file, with the notable exception of records relating to the Nanaimo Commonwealth Holdings Society and the Jericho Hill investigation, which were too extensive to be placed with the original media. These have been placed in box 910132-0475.
Records in this series were created in accordance with the Attorney General Act (RSBC 1996, c. 22) and are covered by schedule 880699 of the Operational Records Classification System. In 2005, the records were deemed to be eligible for full retention.
British Columbia. Criminal Justice Branch