Alberta Law Reform Institute Releases Final Report on Criminal Trial Proceedings

The Alberta Law Reform Institute has released its Final Report 100: Criminal Trial Proceedings.

The Institute examined three areas: 

• Charter Issues – The content of a notice of Charter application is not clearly specified. As a result, notices often do not contain enough information for the court or Crown to prepare for the hearing or to assess the impact of the application on the trial schedule.
• Non-Disclosure Orders – In order to prevent release of information which is the subject of a non-disclosure order application, it is necessary to clearly state that such information may not be published prior to the court’s decision on the application. 
• General Challenges for Cause in Jury Selection – In order to avoid the risk that a general challenge for cause will delay a criminal jury trial, the party seeking to challenge every prospective member of the jury for cause must apply for court permission to do so at least two months before the date of jury selection.