Rules of Court

This page was last substantively updated or reviewed January 2020. (Rev. # 95942)

General Principles

Section 482 authorizes provincial and superior courts to make procedural rules so long as they are not "inconsistent" with any federal legislation.

Rules of Court

Power to make rules

482 (1) Every superior court of criminal jurisdiction and every court of appeal may make rules of court not inconsistent with this or any other Act of Parliament, and any rules so made apply to any prosecution, proceeding, action or appeal, as the case may be, within the jurisdiction of that court, instituted in relation to any matter of a criminal nature or arising from or incidental to any such prosecution, proceeding, action or appeal.

Power to make rules

(2) The following courts may make rules of court not inconsistent with this Act or any other Act of Parliament that are applicable to any prosecution, proceeding, including a preliminary inquiry or proceedings within the meaning of Part XXVII [Pt. XXVII – Summary Convictions (ss. 785 to 840)], action or appeal, as the case may be, within the jurisdiction of that court, instituted in relation to any matter of a criminal nature or arising from or incidental to the prosecution, proceeding, action or appeal:

(a) every court of criminal jurisdiction for a province;

(b) every appeal court within the meaning of section 812 [definition of appeal court] that is not a court referred to in subsection (1) [powers of the superior and appellate court to make rules];

(c) the Ontario Court of Justice;

(d) the Court of Quebec and every municipal court in the Province of Quebec;

(e) the Provincial Court of Nova Scotia;

(f) the Provincial Court of New Brunswick;

(g) the Provincial Court of Manitoba;

(h) the Provincial Court of British Columbia;

(i) the Provincial Court of Prince Edward Island;

(j) the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan;

(k) the Provincial Court of Alberta;

(l) the Provincial Court of Newfoundland and Labrador;

(m) the Territorial Court of Yukon;

(n) the Territorial Court of the Northwest Territories; and

(o) the Nunavut Court of Justice.

Purpose of rules

(3) Rules under subsection (1) [powers of the superior and appellate court to make rules] or (2) [powers of provincial and territorial coruts to make rules] may be made

(a) generally to regulate the duties of the officers of the court and any other matter considered expedient to attain the ends of justice and carry into effect the provisions of the law;

(b) to regulate the sittings of the court or any division thereof, or of any judge of the court sitting in chambers, except in so far as they are regulated by law;

(c) to regulate the pleading, practice and procedure in criminal matters, including pre-hearing conferences held under section 625.1 [pre-hearing conference], proceedings with respect to judicial interim release and preliminary inquiries and, in the case of rules under subsection (1) [powers of the superior and appellate court to make rules], proceedings with respect to mandamus, certiorari, habeas corpus, prohibition and procedendo and proceedings on an appeal under section 830 [summary conviction appeal]; and

(d) to carry out the provisions of this Act relating to appeals from conviction, acquittal or sentence and, without restricting the generality of this paragraph,

(i) for furnishing necessary forms and instructions in relation to notices of appeal or applications for leave to appeal to officials or other persons requiring or demanding them,

(ii) for ensuring the accuracy of notes taken at a trial and the verification of any copy or transcript,

(iii) for keeping writings, exhibits or other things connected with the proceedings on the trial,

(iv) for securing the safe custody of property during the period in which the operation of an order with respect to that property is suspended under subsection 689(1) [restitution or forfeiture of property], and

(v) for providing that the Attorney General and counsel who acted for the Attorney General at the trial be supplied with certified copies of writings, exhibits and things connected with the proceedings that are required for the purposes of their duties.

Publication

(4) Rules of court that are made under this section must be published or otherwise made available to the public.

Regulations to secure uniformity

(5) Notwithstanding anything in this section, the Governor in Council may make such provision as he considers proper to secure uniformity in the rules of court in criminal matters, and all uniform rules made under the authority of this subsection prevail and have effect as if enacted by this Act.
R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 482; R.S., 1985, c. 27 (1st Supp.), s. 66; 1994, c. 44, s. 35; 2002, c. 13, s. 17; 2015, c. 3, s. 50; 2019, c. 25, s. 186.
[annotation(s) added]

– CCC (CanLII), (DOJ)

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Manner of Interpretation

The rules created by a court should be subject to the "ordinary principles of statutory interpretation."

Rules of the Provinces and Territories

Province	Level	Title	Citation
Alberta	Superior Court / Court of Appeal	Alberta Rules of Court	Alta Reg 124/2010
Alberta	Superior Court	Court of Queen's Bench for Alberta Summary Conviction Appeal Rules	SI/2012-39
British Columbia	Provincial Court	Provincial Court of British Columbia Criminal Caseflow Management Rules	SI/99-104
British Columbia	Superior Court	Criminal Rules of the Supreme Court of British Columbia	SI/97-140
British Columbia	Court of Appeal	British Columbia Court of Appeal Criminal Appeal Rules, 1986	BC Reg 145/86
Manitoba	Superior Court	Criminal Proceedings Rules of the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench	SI/2016-34
New Brunswick	Superior Court	Criminal Procedure Rules of the Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick	SI/2015-81
New Brunswick	Superior Court	New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench Summary Conviction Appeal Rules	SI/80-117
Newfoundland	Superior Court	Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador — Court of Appeal Criminal Appeal Rules (2002)	SI/2002-96
Newfoundland	Provincial	Rules of the Provincial Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Criminal Proceedings	SI/2004-134
Newfoundland	Superior	Supreme Court of Newfoundland, Trial Division Rules for Orders in the Nature of Certiorari, Habeas Corpus, Mandamus and Prohibition	SI/2000-33
Newfoundland	Superior Court	The Criminal Appeal Rules of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland, Trial Division	SI/87-28
Newfoundland	Superior Court	Newfoundland Rules of Practice Respecting Reduction in the Number of Years of Imprisonment Without Eligibility for Parole	SOR/89-297
Northwest Territories	Court of Appeal	Rules of the Court of Appeals for the Northwest Territories as to A. Criminal Appeals B. Bail on Appeals	SOR/78-68
Northwest Territories	Superior Court	Northwest Territories Rules of Practice Respecting Applications and Hearings concerning a Reduction in the Number of Years of Imprisonment Without Eligibility for Parole	SOR/98-392
Northwest Territories	Superior Court	Criminal Procedure Rules of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories	SI/98-78
Nova Scotia	Superior Court / Court of Appeal	Nova Scotia Civil Procedure Rules, Nova Scotia Civil Procedure Rules	Royal Gaz Nov 19, 2008
Nova Scotia	Provincial	Provincial Court Rules	website
Ontario	Superior Court	Criminal Proceedings Rules for the Superior Court of Justice (Ontario)	SI/2012-7
Ontario	Provincial	Criminal Rules of the Ontario Court of Justice	SI/2012-30, website
Prince Edward Island	Court of Appeal	Prince Edward Island – Criminal Appeal Rules of Court	SI/2011-109
Prince Edward Island	Superior Court	Prince Edward Island Criminal Rule of Practice Respecting Reduction in the Number of Years of Imprisonment Without Eligibility for Parole	SOR/92-383
Quebec	Court of Appeal	Rules of the Court of Appeal of Quebec in Criminal Matters	SI/2006-142
Quebec	Superior Court	Rules of Practice of the Superior Court of the Province of Quebec, Criminal Division, 2002	SI/2002-46
Quebec	Provincial	Regulation of the Court of Québec	CQLR c C-25.01, r 9
Saskatchewan	Court of Appeal	The Court of Appeal Criminal Appeal Rules (Saskatchewan)	SI/2011-9
Saskatchewan	Superior Court	Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench Rules Respecting Pre-Trial Conferences	SI/86-158
Saskatchewan	Superior Court	Court of Queen's Bench for Saskatchewan Summary Conviction Appeal Rules	SI/2011-20
Yukon	Court of Appeal	Yukon Territory Court of Appeal Criminal Appeal Rules, 1993	SI/93-53
Yukon	Superior Court	Supreme Court of Yukon Summary Conviction Appeal Rules, 2009	SI/2012-64
Yukon	Superior Court	Yukon Territory Supreme Court Rules for Pre-hearing Conferences in Criminal Matters	SOR/88-427

Youth Court

Youth justice court may make rules

17 (1) The youth justice court for a province may, subject to the approval of the lieutenant governor in council of the province, establish rules of court not inconsistent with this Act or any other Act of Parliament or with any regulations made under section 155 regulating proceedings within the jurisdiction of the youth justice court.

Rules of court

(2) Rules under subsection (1) may be made

(a) generally to regulate the duties of the officers of the youth justice court and any other matter considered expedient to attain the ends of justice and carry into effect the provisions of this Act;

(b) subject to any regulations made under paragraph 155(b), to regulate the practice and procedure in the youth justice court; and

(c) to prescribe forms to be used in the youth justice court if they are not otherwise provided for by or under this Act.

Publication of rules

(3) Rules of court that are made under the authority of this section shall be published in the appropriate provincial gazette.

– YCJA (CanLII), (DOJ)

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Forms, Regulations and Rules of Court

Forms

154 (1) The forms prescribed under section 155, varied to suit the case, or forms to the like effect, are valid and sufficient in the circumstances for which they are provided.

If forms not prescribed

(2) In any case for which forms are not prescribed under section 155, the forms set out in Part XXVIII [Pt. XXVIII – Miscellaneous (ss. 841 to 849)] of the Criminal Code, with any modifications that the circumstances require, or other appropriate forms, may be used.

– YCJA (CanLII), (DOJ)

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Regulations

155 The Governor in Council may make regulations

(a) prescribing forms that may be used for the purposes of this Act;

(b) establishing uniform rules of court for youth justice courts across Canada, including rules regulating the practice and procedure to be followed by youth justice courts; and

(c) generally for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act.

– YCJA (CanLII), (DOJ)

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See Also

• Precedents, Court Forms and Checklists