On April 6, 2021, the Province of Alberta and the Chief Medical Officer of Health put in place additional measures to protect the health system and to reduce the rising spread of COVID-19. The Court will hear all matters currently booked, but will continue
its efforts to minimize traffic at all courthouses. Counsel and parties are advised to be aware of the following, effective immediately:
I. Matters Requiring Oral Evidence
All Trials, including Jury Trials, and other hearings involving witnesses who are required to give oral evidence will proceed in person, at the appropriate courthouse or off-site Court Location.
Any request to have a witness give oral evidence by videoconference must be made to the case management Justice or to the hearing/trial judge, if known well in advance of the trial date, or to either Chief Justice Moreau or Associate Chief Justice Nielsen.
II. All Other Matters
All other matters, ie. all matters not requiring oral evidence, will be heard remotely. Parties and Counsel are directed to the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta website for instructions on the conduct
of remote proceedings, here:
Instructions and Etiquette Guide for Online Hearings for Counsel, Parties, Witnesses, Media and the Public
III. Booking of New Matters
The booking of new Criminal, Civil, Family and Commercial Trials and lengthy Special Chambers applications will continue.
IV. Filing and Orders
Given the need to minimize traffic at all courthouses, Counsel and parties are reminded that, unless a matter is truly urgent (ie. unless the document must be filed on the same day):
All documents must be filed by email. Court clerks are being directed to reject paper filings unless the document must be filed immediately. Instructions for email filing are located on the Court’s
website, at the following links:
New Email Filing Procedures & Naming Conventions
Checklist for Filing of Electronic Documents
All Orders are to be submitted via email:
a) in Justice and Family Chambers, in .doc or .docx (Microsoft Word) format;
b) in Masters’ Chambers, in .pdf format.
The Court is tracking the materials that are filed on paper and in person at court facilities; individuals who are filing non-urgent materials may expect to hear from the Chief Justice.