All Alberta courthouses:
- Plexiglas barriers were installed at public facing counters in all open courthouses and resolution service centres that did not already have barriers in place.
- As of March 30, 2020, public access to all courthouses in the province of Alberta will be restricted until further notice. Members of the general public will only be permitted to enter a courthouse in certain circumstances
Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench
- The court is now hearing summary dispositions via Webex for civil cases in which all parties agree to proceed in this manner.
- The court has prepared a Q&A for further information: https://albertacourts.ca/qb/court-operations-schedules/pandemic-operations/FAQ
- resuming some criminal trials in-person and via Webex video conference, starting in June. Priority will be given to trials scheduled to be heard between March 16 and June 26 that were cancelled because of the court’s pandemic response.
- extending its limitation of hearings to emergency and urgent matters only to June 26, 2020, and the adjournment of criminal jury trials and jury selections to September 8, 2020.
- Limiting hearings to emergency or urgent matters only. Requests can be made online or over the phone for parties without internet access.
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- Emergency matters are those in which serious consequences to persons or harm to property may arise if the hearing does not proceed, or if there is a risk of loss of jurisdiction or expiration of an existing protection or restraining order.
- Definition of emergency/urgent matters here: https://www.albertacourts.ca/qb/resources/announcements/definition-of-emergency-urgent-matters
- Kept clerk offices open (Edmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray, St. Paul, Grande Prairie, Peace River, Red Deer, Wetaskiwin, Drumheller, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge) to accept filings.
Updated May 29
Provincial Court of Alberta
- The Provincial Court of Alberta has released part one of their resumption plan, outlining their operations and covering the period May 25 through July 3.
- The Provincial Court of Alberta will permit remote applications, including out of custody guilty pleas.
- The Provincial Court of Alberta has:
- Updated its plan for the staged resumption of court operations. The changes involve family mediation; the rescheduling and adjournment of provincial tickets, bylaws and other matters; and criminal adult out-of-custody criminal trials and preliminary inquiries.
- Provided new guidelines for family and child protection application;
- Issued a digital judicial authorization protocol in Edmonton to allow for electronic submission of documents in certain Criminal Code matters;
- Clarified its criminal fine payment extension process. Those applying for an extension to pay a criminal fine can do so by mail, email, fax or telephone.
- Provided notice to self-represented litigants for family law matters, and to law enforcement for warrants.
- Begun conducting pre-trial conferences and pre-preliminary hearing conferences to manage scheduled (and to be scheduled) criminal matters, as the court’s COVID 19 response plan has been extended.
- Members of the general public will only be permitted to enter a courthouse in certain circumstances.
- Case Management Offices with the Provincial Court of Alberta are closed.
- The Provincial Court of Alberta has updated Schedules and Practice Notices.
- More information: https://albertacourts.ca/pc/resources/announcements
Traffic Courts
- All traffic courts in Alberta are closed.
- Anyone who has a traffic ticket needs to follow the information on how to pay their fine available at https://www.albertacourts.ca/pc/resources/pay-fines.
- Albertans wishing to search their fines can use MyAlberta Fines Search, where people can both look up their traffic ticket fine at: https://finesearch.eservices.alberta.ca
- If an Albertan wishes to contest their matter, they are asked to follow the instructions noted on their ticket. https://www.albertacourts.ca/pc/resources/announcements//first-appearance-centres-temporary-closure.
- An Albertan will only be convicted in absence if they fail to contact the Court handling their ticket.
- While Albertans can’t attend a Traffic Court in person, they have many other ways to contact the court that are safe and convenient. They can contact the court handling their matter by telephone, e-mail or fax if they:
- do not dispute their ticket but need time to pay
- wish to adjourn their matter
- wish to plead not guilty and set a trial date
- Not guilty pleas will also continue to be accepted by mail. Instructions for submitting a not guilty plea by mail are listed on the ticket.
- If an Albertan does not contact the court handling their matter on or before the scheduled appearance, trial or application date, they may be convicted in absence or a warrant may be issued for their arrest. If they are convicted in absence, they may be subject to a late payment charge.
- Fine payments can be made:
- online at https://eservices.alberta.ca/fine-payments.html
- by mail to the Provincial Traffic Production Centre, 601 5th Street SW, Calgary, Alberta T2P 5P7, or
- through a Registry Office – http://www.servicealberta.gov.ab.ca/find-a-registry-agent.cfm