Effective June 3, 2024, a number of amendments to the Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada will come into effect.
To start, a few of them are consequential amendments necessitated by the Court's implementation of its Electronic Filing Portal in 2023. (See our Bulletin.) For example a definition for the electronic filing portal has been added to Rule 2.
Others simply codify practice adopted by the Court and SCC Registry over the years:
- Rule 47 (Motions) is amended to remove the requirement of filing a draft order with a notice of motion.
- Rule 71 (Appearances) is amended to require counsel who are presenting argument to provide their names to the Registrar four weeks ahead of the hearing. Previously, it was two weeks.
- Rule 20 (Service of Documents) now allows service by email to be proven by an affidavit that attaches a delivery receipt, in addition to the existing alternatives of a read receipt or confirmation from the party served.
Of most importance to practitioners is the amendment to Rule 19 (Filing of Documents) that confirms that documents can be filed through the portal up to 11:59 p.m. in the Eastern time zone to be deemed to have been filed that day.
Of most practical importance to practitioners and Ottawa agents is the elimination of the $75 filing fee for notices of application for leave to appeal, notices of appeal as of right, notices of motion and notices of taxation, as well as the new allowance of a fee for the preparation of the electronic version of an application for leave to appeal, an application for leave to cross-appeal, a motion book, a response or reply. (Tariff of Fees and Disbursements — Schedule A and Schedule B)
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