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Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta Criminal Procedure Rules (SI/2017-76)

Regulations are current to 2024-03-06

Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta Criminal Procedure Rules

SI/2017-76

CRIMINAL CODE

Registration 2017-12-13

Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta Criminal Procedure Rules

Pursuant to subsections 482(1)Footnote a and (3)Footnote b and section 482.1Footnote c of the Criminal CodeFootnote d, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta makes the annexed Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta Criminal Procedure Rules.

Calgary, November 17, 2017

La juge en chef,
blank line
Mary T. Moreau
Chief Justice

PART 1Interpretation, Application and General Principles

Marginal note:Definitions

 The following definitions apply in these Rules.

Code

Code means the Criminal Code. (Code)

Court

Court means the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta. (Cour)

Marginal note:Application

 Unless otherwise expressly provided in an enactment, these Rules apply to any criminal or summary conviction appeal proceeding.

Marginal note:Purpose and interpretation

  •  (1) These Rules are intended to facilitate the just disposition of criminal proceedings in Alberta, and must be construed in a liberal and practical manner to secure the fair and expeditious resolution of the proceedings in which they are applied.

  • Marginal note:For greater certainty

    (2) Nothing in these Rules is to be construed as limiting the jurisdiction or authority of the Court or a judge.

Marginal note:Court’s discretionary power

  •  (1) To implement and advance the purpose and intention of these Rules, the Court may make any order with respect to practice or procedure, in any proceeding before the Court.

  • Marginal note:For greater certainty

    (2) Without limiting the authority of the Court under these Rules, the Court may do one or more of the following:

    • (a) grant, refuse or dismiss an application or other proceeding;

    • (b) set aside any process exercised or purportedly exercised under these Rules that is

      • (i) contrary to law,

      • (ii) an abuse of process, or

      • (iii) for an improper purpose;

    • (c) give orders or directions or make a ruling with respect to a proceeding or to a related matter;

    • (d) make a ruling with respect to whether or how these Rules apply in particular circumstances or to a practice or procedure under these Rules;

    • (e) impose terms, conditions and time limits;

    • (f) give permission or approval;

    • (g) give advice, including by providing guidance and making proposals, suggestions and recommendations;

    • (h) adjourn all or any part of a proceeding, or extend or shorten any time limits, including the time within which the filing, service or provision of any document must be effected;

    • (i) include any information in a judgment or order that the Court considers necessary;

    • (j) amend any document, give directions or make any order necessary to validate a proceeding or document;

    • (k) reject a document or quash a proceeding as irregular or invalid;

    • (l) deem the filing, service or provision of any document to be valid and sufficient; and

    • (m) otherwise deal with any document or proceeding as the Court considers to be just.

PART 2Applications

DIVISION 1Form and Contents of Applications

Marginal note:Application

  •  (1) Unless otherwise indicated in these Rules, every application under this Part must be made on notice in Form CC1.

  • Marginal note:Place and filing of application

    (2) An application must be brought by filing it with the Court in the judicial centre where the criminal proceeding to which the application relates is being or is to be heard.

  • Marginal note:Exception

    (3) If the application is urgent, or the Court otherwise allows, it may be brought without notice for the sole purpose of scheduling dates for service and the hearing.

Marginal note:Hearing of application

 An application must be heard on the date and at the time set by the Court in the judicial centre where the application is to be heard.

Marginal note:Filing and service of supporting documents

 At least seven days before the date of the hearing, the applicant must file the following supporting documents with the Court and serve them on the persons listed in Rule 8:

  • (a) an affidavit, transcript and other evidence or detailed particulars of the evidence that the applicant intends to present; and

  • (b) a summary of the legal argument supporting the relief claimed.

Marginal note:Persons to be served

 The application and supporting documents must be served on the following persons:

  • (a) every party to the proceeding; and

  • (b) every person who could be directly affected by an order that may be made following the application.

Marginal note:Failure to appear

 If the applicant fails to appear at the hearing of the application, the Court may dismiss the application as having been abandoned.

Marginal note:Presence of accused

 An accused person may designate counsel or a student-at-law to appear on his or her behalf by filing Form CC2 with the Court, or another document acceptable to the Court.

DIVISION 2Application for Mandamus, Certiorari, Habeas Corpus or Prohibition

Marginal note:Application

  •  (1) In an application under these Rules for mandamus, certiorari, habeas corpus or prohibition, the following rules apply:

    • (a) Part 3, Division 2, Subdivision 2 of the Alberta Rules of Court; and

    • (b) Division 1 of this Part.

  • Marginal note:Conflict

    (2) If there is a conflict between Division 1 of this Part and Part 3, Division 2, Subdivision 2 of the Alberta Rules of Court, Division 1 of this Part prevails.

DIVISION 3Application for Judicial Interim Release or Detention Review

Marginal note:Judicial interim release

  •  (1) An application for judicial interim release or the judicial review of an order regarding judicial interim release must be brought by filing Form CC3 with the Court in the judicial centre where the accused is in custody or where the trial is to take place.

  • Marginal note:Service

    (2) The application must be served on the respondent at least two days before the date set for the hearing of the application.

Marginal note:Detention review

  •  (1) An application for detention review under section 525 of the Code must be brought by an institution of detention, which must file Form CC4 with the Court in the judicial centre where the accused is in custody or where the trial is to take place.

  • Marginal note:Notice to institution and to accused

    (2) On receipt of the application for detention review, the Court must advise the institution of the date and time of the hearing and provide a copy of Form CC5 to the designated counsel or, if there is no counsel designated, to the institution, to be provided to the accused.

DIVISION 4Application for a Remedy under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Marginal note:Application and service

 An application for a remedy based on an alleged violation of an accused’s rights or freedoms guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms must be in Form CC1 and brought in accordance with Division 1, except that the application and supporting documents must be filed with the Court and served on the parties at least seven days before the date of the pre-trial conference or at least 60 days before the date of the trial, whichever is earlier, or as directed by the Court.

DIVISION 5Application for Challenge for Cause

Marginal note:Notice of application and service

  •  (1) If the prosecutor or the accused wishes to challenge a juror under paragraph 638(1)(b) of the Code, that party must, at least 60 days before the date of the scheduled jury selection, file with the Court and serve on the other party a notice of the application for the challenge and provide a copy of the notice to the court coordinator in the judicial centre where the trial is to be held.

  • Marginal note:Contents of notice

    (2) The notice must set out the ground for the proposed challenge in accordance with section 639 and Form 41 of the Code.

  • Marginal note:Scheduling of pre-trial conference

    (3) On receipt of the copy of the notice, the court coordinator must schedule a pre-trial conference between the trial judge or case management judge, the prosecutor and the accused to resolve issues raised in the application.

DIVISION 6Application Relating to an Authorization or Warrant

Marginal note:Application

 An application relating to an authorization, warrant or similar order must be made in accordance with the enabling statute or, if no procedure exists in the enabling statute or there is no enabling statute, in accordance with Division 1.

Marginal note:Documents required for application

 If Division 1 applies to the application, the applicant must provide, in addition to the supporting documents required under Rule 7,

  • (a) the relevant passages from the statutes, regulations and legal authorities relied on and the full citation for each of these; and

  • (b) a draft of the order sought.

DIVISION 7Application for an Order Restricting Publication or Public Access

Marginal note:Applications to which this rule applies

  •  (1) This Division applies to an application for any of the following orders, unless the order is required by statute:

    • (a) a publication ban;

    • (b) a sealing order;

    • (c) an order prohibiting the identification of a witness, including through the use of pseudonyms;

    • (d) an order for an in camera hearing; and

    • (e) any other order for non-disclosure or restricting access.

  • Marginal note:Applications to impose or set aside a sealing order

    (2) An application for an order to seal an entire Court file or to set aside all or any part of an order to seal a Court file must be made to

    • (a) the Chief Justice;

    • (b) the Associate Chief Justice; or

    • (c) a judge designated by the Chief Justice.

  • Marginal note:Other applications

    (3) Any other application under this Division must be made to the trial judge, or, if no trial judge has been assigned, to another judge.

  • Marginal note:Filing and service

    (4) In addition to complying with the requirements of Division 1 and with any direction the Court may make with respect to any other persons to be served, the applicant must file three paper copies of Form CC6 with the clerk in the judicial centre where the application is to be heard and provide to that clerk one electronic copy of the form.

  • Marginal note:Notice

    (5) If the clerk has a list of media organizations registered for electronic distribution, the clerk must forward the filed electronic copy of Form CC6 to those organizations.

  • Marginal note:Posting of Form CC6

    (6) The clerk must post a copy of the filed Form CC6 in a place reserved for giving public notice at the courthouse where the application is to be heard.

PART 3Pre-Trial Conferences

DIVISION 1General Provisions

Marginal note:Cases requiring a pre-trial conference

 A pre-trial conference must be held in any case that is to be tried by a judge and jury and in any case that is anticipated to take at least three days, unless a case management judge has been appointed or a judge, on application, orders otherwise.

Marginal note:Date of first pre-trial conference

 The first pre-trial conference must be held within 120 days after the filing of the indictment or the order committing the accused to stand trial, whichever occurs first.

Marginal note:Pre-trial conference location

  •  (1) A pre-trial conference must be conducted in the judicial centre where the trial will be held, unless otherwise ordered by a judge.

  • Marginal note:Pre-trial conference in courtroom

    (2) A pre-trial conference involving an unrepresented accused, or a represented accused who wishes to be present, must be conducted in a courtroom.

Marginal note:Additional pre-trial conferences

  •  (1) The pre-trial conference judge or another judge of the Court may order that additional pre-trial conferences be held in order to promote a fair and expeditious trial or resolution of the proceeding.

  • Marginal note:Presiding judge

    (2) If possible, any additional pre-trial conference must be conducted by the initial pre-trial conference judge.

DIVISION 2Submissions and Reports

Marginal note:Submissions

 Each party to a pre-trial conference must prepare submissions by completing the pertinent parts of Form CC7 and provide a copy of this form to every other party to the proceeding and to the clerk in the appropriate judicial centre within the following periods:

  • (a) in the case of the prosecutor, at least two weeks before the date of the pre-trial conference; and

  • (b) in the case of the accused, at least one week before the date of the pre-trial conference.

Marginal note:Report by pre-trial conference judge

  •  (1) The pre-trial conference judge must prepare a report in Form CC7 and provide it to each of the parties for their approval within the period and on the conditions the pre-trial conference judge considers appropriate.

  • Marginal note:Report provided to court coordinator

    (2) The pre-trial conference judge must remove and destroy the page of the report relating to the parties’ positions on sentence, and the remainder of the report must be provided to the court coordinator and must not be disclosed to the public unless otherwise ordered by the judge.

  • Marginal note:Report provided to trial judge

    (3) The court coordinator must provide a copy of the report to the trial judge.

DIVISION 3Recording and Transcript of Pre-Trial Conference

Marginal note:Recording of pre-trial conference

  •  (1) A pre-trial conference that is conducted in a courtroom must be recorded, but the recording must not be published, broadcast or transmitted in any way, unless otherwise ordered by the pre-trial conference judge.

  • Marginal note:Request for transcript

    (2) No transcript or recording of a pre-trial conference may be requested except on notice to all parties and with the prior written approval of the pre-trial conference judge.

  • Marginal note:Publication, broadcast or transmission with approval of judge

    (3) If a transcript or recording has been requested, no information contained in the transcript or recording may be published, broadcast, transmitted or used in any way except on notice to all parties and with the prior written approval of the pre-trial conference judge.

  • Marginal note:No publication or disclosure of sentencing discussions

    (4) No information with respect to sentencing discussions or the parties’ positions may be published or disclosed in any way.

 

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