Supreme Court of Canada Liaison Committee

The Committee seeks input from CBA National Sections and from CBA members who have recently appeared before the SCC. It also liaises with the Ottawa Local Agents Committee.

Sections may suggest agenda items through the Committee’s staff liaison, Rebecca Bromwich, Staff Lawyer, Equality and Law Reform.

For information, contact: sccliaison@cba.org.

Past and Current Projects

The CBA participated in the Court’s project to modernize the Supreme Court Act (Project 2000), commenting on draft revisions to the Supreme Court Act. The CBA commented on amendments to sections 65-68 of the Supreme Court Act (stays pending appeals) in December 1999.

The CBA was successful in convincing the Minister of Justice to amend the Supreme Court Act with respect to appeals as of right pursuant to the Criminal Code.

In 2000-01, the Court engaged in a full-scale revision of the Supreme Court of Canada Rules. In August 2000, November 2000, June 2001 and December 2001, the Committee wrote to the Court concerning proposed changes. The new rules shorten some time frames for filing documents and provide significant penalties for non-compliance. This may create unrealistic burdens on litigants.

In December 2001, the Committee wrote to the Court concerning media lockups when SCC judgments are issued. The Committee noted a divided view within the CBA on whether media lockups would assist in reporting SCC decisions. Another divided view was on whether consent of the parties should be a prerequisite. The Court embarked on a pilot project for media lockups.

The Court undertook to fine-tune its Rules, based on experience with the 2002 changes. Issues included appeals as of right, delays in handling leave applications, the intervention process, the SCC tariff, and use of legal counsel at the Court. In March 2004, the Committee wrote to the Court about technical changes to the Rules, including computation of time for constitutional questions, service, motions to intervene and intervenors’ factums. At its May 2006 meeting, the Committee commented on draft changes to the Rules.

New SCC Rules came into effect October 2006. CBA credited with influencing several changes.

In spring 2006, the Committee sought the views of SCC practitioners on access to SCC facta online, assisted in part by a survey on the slaw.ca law blog. The response was overwhelmingly positive, except for privacy issues in family and refugee cases.

At its May 2008 meeting, the Committee discussed the Court’s foray into electronic filing, as well as its draft policy on access to court records.

The Supreme Court electronic filing policy: Guidelines for Printed and Electronic Versions of Appeal Documents entered into force in fall 2008. The Committee’s recommendation to allow for a five day grace period for the filing of the electronic version of a document was integrated into the Guidelines.

The Policy for Access to Supreme Court of Canada Court Records entered into force in February 2009. The Policy reflects comments made by the Committee.

Throughout the year, Committee members informally exchange thoughts on topics to be discussed with the Court.

At its May 2009 meeting the Committee discussed the implementation of e-filing, Rule 60 dealing with motions to state a constitutional question, and cost awards on applications for leave to appeal.

In September 2009, the Registrar advised the Committee that, in line with the CBA recommendation, the Court’s general practice will be to award costs “in the cause” rather than “in the event of the cause” where leave to appeal is granted.