What's New

Welcome to the “What's New?” section of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador  Trial Division (General) website. This section will include information bulletins, links to news releases, event notices, new publications, speeches, photos and other items.

Court Attire

Access to Court Records in Family Proceedings

Changes to Criminal Proceedings Guidelines

Criminal Proceedings Guidelines have been revised effective March 1, 2013. Please see attached Notice to Profession.

Changes to Rules 7A.04, 20A.08, 55.17 and 56.30

Amendments to the above noted rules were published in the Gazette on December 14, 2012 as Regulation 88/12. The changes to rules 7A.04, 55.17 and 56.30 came into force on publication. The effective date of the changes to rule 20A.08 is February 1, 2013. A Notice to the Profession was distributed outlining the amendments and has been added to the Practice Notes section of this website. Comments on these amendments should be forwarded the Legal Officer of the Trial Division at (709) 729-4743.

Applications Practice Note

A Practice Note on applications was published in the Gazette on October 19, 2012 and is now in force.  It covers a few new procedures for filing documents for applications and outlines what happens when documents for applications are filed late.  A copy of this directive can be found in the Practice Notes section.  Questions and comments should be directed to Angela Whitehead, Legal Officer of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, Trial Division (angelawhitehead@supreme.court.nl.ca / (709) 729-4743). 

New E-mail Address for CD Requests – St. John’s Trial Division (General)

Please note the following change of process within the court. Starting today, July 11, 2012, all requests for CDs of proceedings in the Trial Division (General) of the Supreme Court of NL in the judicial centre of St. John’s must be emailed to CourtReporters@supreme.court.nl.ca or faxed to 709-729-0663 in order to be processed.

Cheques and Money Orders

Effective immediately, cheques and money orders remitted to the Supreme Court must be made payable to “Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador”. Cheques and money orders payable otherwise will be returned for correction. If you have questions, please contact the court house in your area.

Change to Court Attire

Please note that the practice of dispensing with dark clothes in the summer for appearances in Chambers in both the General and Family Divisions of the Trial Division has been DISCONTINUED.

Amendments to Rules 5, 15, 49 and 56A

Changes to Rules 5 (Commencement of Proceedings), 15 (Amendment), 49 (Orders) and 56A (Family Law) will come into force on July 1, 2012. These amendments were published in the Gazette as Regulation 48/12 on May 25, 2012. A Notice to the Profession containing a summary of the changes has been added to the Practice Notes section of this website. Comments on these amendments should be forwarded the Legal Officer of the Trial Division, Angela Whitehead, at (709) 729-4743 or angelawhitehead@supreme.court.nl.ca.

CourtCall Pilot to Continue in the Judicial Centres of Grand Bank and Happy Valley-Goose Bay

The Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador wishes to advise members of the Bar and public that the pilot project on CourtCall telephonic courtroom appearances is continuing in the Judicial Centres of Grand Bank and Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

Voluntary telephonic appearances through CourtCall may be made in certain matters before the Judicial Centres of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador located in Grand Bank and Happy Valley-Goose Bay. This pilot procedure applies notwithstanding the rules on electronic conferencing contained in the Rules of the Supreme Court, 1986.

Matters that can be heard through the use of CourtCall include:

  1. Case Management Meetings;
  2. Pre-trial conferences;
  3. Status updates and similar appearances;
  4. With prior approval from the Court, short causes and motions, including interim/interlocutory applications; and
  5. Other matters as counsel and the Court may agree.

Counsel may make a CourtCall appearance as follows:

  1. NOT LESS THAN THREE (3) COURT DAYS BEFORE THE HEARING DATE, serve and file with CourtCall (not the Court) a Request for CourtCall Telephonic Appearance (see www.courtcall.com):
  2. Pay a fee of $55.00 to CourtCall, LLC.

A confirmation from CourtCall, LLC, will be emailed or faxed to your office upon the filing and payment outlined above.
A CourtCall appearance is made as part of a Court’s usual calendar. Unless notified to the contrary, all counsel who have filed on a timely basis their Request and have paid the fee may appear by dialling the toll-free teleconference number provided by CourtCall, LLC (provided that they have also obtained prior approval from the Court for matters included in items 4 and 5 above). A pre-hearing check-in will occur five minutes before the scheduled hearing time.
A CourtCall appearance is voluntary and may be made without consent of the other party. The Court, however, reserves the discretion to require personal appearance.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT COURTCALL AT 888-882-6878 – DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT

Ex Parte Applications in Family Proceedings

In order to provide some guidance to litigants and their counsel, a new Practice Note relating to applications has been published and was recently uploaded to the Practice Notes section of the court’s website. This new Practice Note applies to all ex parte applications in family proceedings except applications for warrants under the Children and Youth Care and Protection Act. Both the issuance and disposition of such applications are addressed in the Practice Note. If you have any questions or comments, contact the Legal Officer of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, Trial Division, Angela Whitehead at (709) 729-4743 or angelawhitehead@supreme.court.nl.ca

Practice Note on Quebec Notarial Wills

A new Practice Note was published in the Gazette in accordance with Rule 4.04 on August 19, 2011 and can be found on the Practice Notes section of this website. It outlines the appropriate procedure to follow when property has been distributed in Quebec pursuant to a Quebec notarial will and now the executor seeks to distribute property in Newfoundland and Labrador. Comments and questions on this Practice Note should be directed to Angela Whitehead, Legal Officer of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, at (709) 729-4743 or angelawhitehead@supreme.court.nl.ca.

New Scale of Costs in Effect July 1, 2011

A new Scale of Costs was passed by regulation in May 2011. It applies to all matters in the Supreme Court, Trial Division in which an order is made on or after July 1, 2011 for party and party costs to be taxed. This new Scale of Costs replaces the old one and aims to make the issue of costs simpler and more predictable. If you have any questions or comments relating to the new Scale of Costs, please contact the Legal Officer of the Trial Division, Angela Whitehead, at (709) 729-4743 or angelawhitehead@supreme.court.nl.ca.

Changes to Rules 37A, 39 and 40

The Rules Committee of the Trial Division passed amendments to Rules 37A, 39 and 40 which will come into force on January 11, 2011. They were published in the Gazette as Regulation 111/10 on December 17, 2010. A Notice to the Bar containing a summary of the substantive changes along with Tables of Concordance can be found in the Practice Notes section. Any comments on these amendments should be directed to Angela Whitehead, Legal Officer of the Trial Division, at (709) 729-4743 or angelawhitehead@supreme.court.nl.ca.

Criminal Proceedings Guidelines and Forms Now in Force

Further to the Practice Note issued by the Chief Justice and the Registrar, the Criminal Proceedings Guidelines and Forms are now in force in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, Trial Division. A Word and PDF copy of the both the guidelines and the forms are available in the Practice Notes section. The forms are also available in PDF writable format under the Forms section of this website. Any comments on these new guidelines and forms should be directed to Angela Whitehead, Legal Officer of the Trial Division, at (709) 729-4743 or angelawhitehead@supreme.court.nl.ca.

The Honourable Deborah J. Paquette, Q.C., appointed judge of the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador

The Honourable Deborah J. Paquette, Q.C., Assistant Deputy Minister with the Department of Justice of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, is appointed judge of the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador to replace Madam Justice L.R. Hoegg, who was appointed to the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador effective June 18, 2010. The swearing-in ceremony will take place on September 14, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom No. 1, Courthouse, St. John’s, NL.

 

Official opening of the Corner Brook Law Courts