Invitation to Participate in Global Review of the Federal Courts Rules

The Federal Courts Rules Committee is inviting comments as part of a global review of the Federal Courts Rules:

"The areas for discussion identified by the 2024 Sub-Committee encompass several broad and recurring themes. Most of the proposed changes are intended to update the Rules to reflect technological advances and current procedures. For example:

1. Update the Rules to permit electronic service and filing of documents throughout;
2. Remove references to anachronistic practices and technology;
3. Incorporate important elements from the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA)’s Consolidated Practice Direction and the Federal Court (FC)’s Amended Consolidated General Practice Guidelines (collectively the “Practice Directions”);
4. Amend the Rules to reflect jurisprudential developments;
5. Increase the monetary limit for simplified actions;
6. Expand the role of associate judges;
7. Grant a limited discretionary power to the registry to accept or refuse non-compliant documents;
8. Revise the Rules governing class actions to reflect procedural changes in the provinces; and
9. Miscellaneous amendments."

The consultation period ends on July 2, 2024.

The current version of the Rules can be found on many sites, including CanLII.