News & Announcements

Effective immediately, Family Practice Note 9 – Intake, Resolution and Caseflow Management – Calgary and Red Deer – will remain in effect in Calgary only.

Resolution and Court Administration Services has added a new naming convention for Emergency Masters matters. For more information, please see the full announcement.

The Court of Queen’s Bench is extending the pilot project for the enforcement of the Mandatory Alternative Dispute Resolution Rules 8.4(3)(a) and 8.5(1)(a) until further notice.

the Court of Queen’s Bench has decided to implement a process as recommended in K.G.K. by which inquiries can be made by counsel or self-represented parties about the status of a reserved decision in all areas of the law. Counsel or self-represented parties wishing to inquire about the status of a reserved decision of a Justice or Applications Judge may do so by writing to the Chief Justice.

With the implementation of Family Docket Court in Calgary and Edmonton, and in accordance with the new responsibilities assigned to Case Management Counsel (CMC) (now referred to as Resolution Counsel or RC), the Court is making a number of changes to the way it conducts case management.

Shortly after the March 15, 2020 suspension of regular operations at the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta, the Government of Alberta, in conjunction with the Court, conducted a comprehensive assessment of court facilities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. That assessment revealed that, across the province, courtrooms and jury retiring rooms, with very few exceptions, are too small to accommodate juries and abide by physical distancing directives of Alberta Health Services. Therefore, until further notice, jury selections and jury trials in the Judicial Centres of Edmonton and Calgary will be held offiste.

During the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, and as the Court prepares for post-pandemic operations, a number of proceedings will continue to be conducted via online videoconference (Online Hearings). Counsel, parties, witnesses, the media and the public are expected to review and comply with the general guidelines found in the Instructions and Etiquette Guide for Online Hearings, which is located on the Court of Queen's Bench website. For additional information, please refer to the full announcement.

Effective September 1, 2020 The Clerk of the Court will only accept filing by electronic mail (email), and will no longer accept filing by fax, as an authorized means under Alberta Rules of Court 13.41(2)(c) https://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/rules2010/Rules_vol_1.pdf .

Effective August 4, 2020, Family Docket Court in Edmonton and Calgary will commence at 9:30 a.m. to enable more matters to be heard by the presiding triage Justice.

The Court of Queen’s Bench has launched a Restorative Justice Committee to study the possibility of creating a referral process for appropriate court matters to a restorative justice process (RJ).