Inventory of Reforms

Alberta Rules of Court Project

Description	The Alberta Law Reform Institute's multi-year review of the Alberta Rules of Court, producing reform recommendations to increase the clarity, usability, and effectiveness of the Rules.
Status	Proposed Rules will be implemented on November 1, 2010
Jurisdiction	Alberta
Court	Court of Queen's Bench Court of Appeal
Body responsible	Alberta Law Reform Institute
Subjects	law reform institutes proposed reforms rules of court
Timeline
2001	Consultations on Alberta Rules of Court Reforms commenced
January - September 2002	Public consultation
September 2002	Public Consultation Report released
2002 - 2007	Various consultation memoranda released
March 2007	Draft Rules released
October 2008	Final Report and Proposed Rules released.
1 November 2010	Planned implementation date

Publications
Alberta Law Reform Institute, Public Consultation Report (Edmonton: ALRI, 2002). (http://www.law.ualberta.ca/alri/docs/Banister2Finalrptl.pdf) Alberta Rules of Court: Test Draft 3 (Edmonton, Alberta: ALRI, 2007). [Draft Rules] Alberta Law Reform Institute, Alberta Rules of Court Publications (webpage) (ALRI, 2008). (http://www.law.ualberta.ca/alri/Publications/Rules-of-Court-Publications.php) Alberta Law Reform Institute, Alberta Rules of Court Project: Proposed Rules of Court (Edmonton: ALRI, 2008). (http://www.law.ualberta.ca/alri/docs/1.%20Appendix%20H%20-%20Proposed%20Rules%20of%20Court.pdf) [Proposed Rules] Alberta Rules of Court Project: Final report no. 95 (Alberta Law Reform Institute, 2008). [Final Report]
Development
Other than various amendments, the Alberta Rules of Court have not been comprehensively reviewed since they were written in 1968. The legal community and the public have raised concerns regarding the timeliness, affordability, and comprehensibility of the Rules. As a result, it was agreed that the rules would be rewritten, with the Alberta Law Reform Institute (ALRI) assigned to manage the project. The Rules of Court project is a multi-year project charged with reviewing the Alberta Rules of Court and assessing potential reforms. The objective of the Project is to increase the clarity, usability, and effectiveness of the Rules in to make them more accessible. The Project is funded by the Alberta Law Reform Institute (ALRI), the Alberta Department of Justice, the Law Society of Alberta and the Alberta Law Foundation, and is managed by ALRI. In pursuit of this goal, ALRI has sought the input of the legal community to define the direction of the reforms.
Purpose
The Rules of Court Project has four objectives that address both the need for rewriting the rules and reforming practice: Objective # 1: Maximize the Rules' Clarity Results will include: simplifying complex language revising unclear language consolidating repetitive provisions removing obsolete or spent provisions shortening rules where possible Objective # 2: Maximize the Rules' Usability Results will include: reorganizing the rules according to conceptual categories within a coherent whole restructuring the rules so that it is easier to locate relevant provisions on any given topic Objective # 3: Maximize the Rules' Effectiveness Results will include: updating the rules to reflect modern practices pragmatic reforms to enhance the courts' process of justice delivery designing the rules so they facilitate the courts' present and future responsiveness to ongoing technological change, foreseeable systems change and user needs Objective # 4: Maximize the Rules' Advancement of Justice System Objectives Results will include: pragmatic reforms to advance justice system objectives for civil procedure such as fairness, accessibility, timeliness and cost effectiveness" Final Report at 3-4.
Description of reforms
The first stage of the Project was to collect feedback on the Rules. A survey was conducted rating the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of respondents with different areas of the Rules. The areas with the highest dissatisfaction ratings were: 1) cost of legal fees, 2) time to resolve a legal case, and 3) the overall legal process. Areas with medium dissatisfaction were: 1) court forms, 2) information available through the court, 3) ease of understanding the legal process, 4) the trial, 5) the discovery stage, and 6) interlocutory hearings. Working Committees were established to examine particular subject areas. They produced published consultation memoranda on topics such as Self-Represented Litigants, Costs and Sanctions, Discovery and Evidence Issues, Judicial Review, and Alternative Dispute Resolution. These reports were used to prepare the Draft Rules, released in March 2007. Consultations on the new rules was undertaken and feedback from the Rules of Court Committee was incorporated into the rules, resulting in the Final Report and Proposed Rules, released in October 2008. ALRI has proposed an amendment to Alberta's Judicature Act to set out a clear process for adopting and revising Rules of Court.
Related reforms
Includes Alberta Rules of Court Project - Expert Evidence Includes Alberta Rules of Court Project - Managing Litigation (Part 4) See also Alberta Summary Judgment Rules See also Alberta Summary Trial Rules
Revision History
This summary was created on 2008-05-28 It was last reviewed to ensure currency on 2010-02-24 2008-12-11 — Updated based on release of Final Report. 2010-02-24 — Updated with announced implementation date of November 1, 2010

Submit update

If you have updates, changes, or additional information regarding this reform, please contact our Librarian, Brad Albrecht, at balbrecht@cfcj-fcjc.org.

URL

http://cfcj-fcjc.org/inventory/reform.php?id=68

Top