Court of King's Bench of Alberta
The Court of King's Bench is the Superior Trial Court for the Province, hearing trials in civil and criminal matters and appeals from decisions of the Court of Justice. The Chief Justice and other Justices of the Court are also judges of Surrogate Matters, which has jurisdiction over probate and administration of estate matters.
1. All requests for an emergency or urgent hearing during the sitting suspension period should be submitted via the online Emergency/Urgent Hearing Request Form at: https://albertacourts.ca/qb/court-operations-schedules/urgent. All emergency/urgent hearings will be presided over by Justices or Applications Judges in the following locations, as set out in the Amended Master Order #2 of March 25, 2020:
2. In the event that a party requesting an emergency or urgent hearing does not have access to the internet and the online Emergency/Urgent Hearing Request Form, they are directed to make the request by telephone:
3. Please do not send multiple requests, or make requests by both online form and telephone.
4. Upon receipt of the emergency or urgent request, the Designated Court Coordinator will send the parties/counsel an email confirming receipt of the request. Unless it is intended to be a without notice (ex parte) application, the responding party/counsel must be copied. The request will be provided to a Triage Justice (in Commercial Cases, to Justice K. Horner in Calgary or to ACJ K. Nielsen in Edmonton) or a Triage Applications Judge to review so that a determination can be made whether it meets the Court's requirements to be heard on an emergency or urgent basis. The applicant may be directed to email relevant unfiled materials to assist with the Court’s determination as to whether the matter is of sufficient urgency to require a hearing. Emails with materials cannot exceed 10MB. For an application on notice, these materials must also be sent to the responding party/counsel.
5. There is no need to provide copies of relevant case law; rather, case law should be cited and hyperlinked (with an appropriate URL).
6. If the Triage Justice or Triage Applications Judge determines that a hearing is required, the Designated Court Coordinator will set a hearing date and provide directions to the parties/counsel as to filing and service of materials.
7. The Designated Court Coordinator will advise the parties/counsel of the date and time for the hearing, and the method of hearing. Parties will appear by telephone or video where appropriate and available. There will be strict limits for the duration of the hearing, and the Designated Court Coordinator will advise of the maximum allotted time for the hearing.
8. A Justice of the Commercial Practice Group will continue to hear and decide urgent and time-sensitive Commercial matters, and may also hear time-sensitive matters submitted in writing in appropriate cases.
9. For the purpose of Emergency/Urgent Commercial hearings, any matters that fall within the following categories will likely be considered urgent:
THE FOREGOING IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. ANY UPDATED DIRECTIONS WILL BE POSTED ON THE COURT’S WEBSITE.
Information on Case Management in civil, family & criminal matters
Civil claims that exceed $50,000 must be heard in the Court of King’s Bench
The Commercial List was established to deal with commercial insolvency law
Criminal law involves investigating and prosecuting people who may have broken the law
Family law governs the legal aspects of relationships between family members
Information on Judicial Dispute Resolution at the Court of King's Bench
Information on the process for requesting a review of lawyers' bills or assessment of court costs.
Information on Wills, Estates, & Trusteeships that are handled at the Court of King's Bench
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