The purpose of this Notice is to confirm that the Court of Appeal will continue to use electronic hearings for all Court proceedings until at least November 1, 2020.
This decision has been guided by several considerations including the current public health status of the province, the continued need to minimize traffic to the courthouses, the benefits in making appellate courtrooms available for trial use, the importance
of preserving the health and safety of all court participants and assuring the future utility of, and access to, remote hearings while, at the same time, ensuring continued access to the Court of Appeal during this pandemic.
This means that all proceedings will continue to be heard via audioconference or videoconference or other available electronic platforms.
Electronic hearings are held in a virtual courtroom with the parties to an appeal, the panel of judges, other participants and the general public able to connect remotely via videoconference or audioconference using a unique link or access code.
The Court is committed to continuously improving electronic hearings. Participants should visit the Court’s Announcement page on the Court’s website at https://albertacourts.ca/ca/publications/announcements for any new information on guidelines and procedures posted after the date of this Notice.
In the meantime, the current processes and guidelines for electronic hearings are set out in the March 23, 2020 and July 6, 2020 Notices to the Profession and Public which continue to govern. The links to these are as follows:
Information on attending an electronic hearing and related resources for counsel and self-represented litigants are available on the Court’s website. Links to these also follow:
Catherine A. Fraser
Chief Justice of Alberta