‘Chambers blitz’ used in cutting backlog of Court of Queen’s Bench civil matters
It looks like COVID-19 isn’t going away any time soon — and neither will non-criminal cases on the province’s Court of Queen’s Bench slate without some intervention.
To cope with the increasing backlog brought about by measures taken in March to contend with COVID -19 risks, the court is taking the step of what it terms a “chambers blitz.”
Between June 8 and 26, it’s all hands on deck at the province’s Queen’s Bench courts as they plow through a swath of cases that piled up when a decision was made to adjourn all such matters as of March 20.
The court’s Chief Justice Martel Popescul explained chambers court provides an opportunity for parties involved in civil proceedings to seek rulings outside a trial courtroom. Chambers can help settle civil matters without the need to go to trial or can at least resolve certain issues prior to trial.
Family matters — such as requests for temporary, pretrial orders related to custody, access, support and enforcement — are also dealt with in chambers court.
“Solving these practical problems assists the parties in moving their action forward,” Popescul said.
“Civil chambers and family chambers provide a crucial forum that enables efficient litigation, dispute resolution and emergency responses to matters requiring immediate judicial intervention.”
But COVID-19 threw a spanner in the works, leading to adjournments of all applications and suspensions of new ones, other than those deemed urgent. At the heart of the decision was the fact chambers courtrooms are frequently congested and don’t allow for social distancing.
By June 1, the court had determined it made sense to get back to chambers applications — albeit by phone rather than in person.
“It was anticipated that there would be an overwhelming demand for the dates typically reserved to hear chambers applications,” Popescul said.
Thus the decision to hold a “blitz.” During the dates noted, the court has called upon “all available judicial resources” to hear both new and adjourned applications, he said.
“The overall goal of the chambers blitz is to hear all new and adjourned cases and eliminate the effects, insofar as chambers applications are concerned, of the restrictions put in place as a result of the COVID -19 pandemic,” he said. “Thus far, there has been a significant uptake and the court is well on its way to eliminating the backlog of chambers applications and becoming ‘current.’”
While a tally of how many files are to be heard isn’t yet available, Popescul noted that for the week of June 8, Saskatchewan Queen’s Bench courts were expected to hear approximately 250 chambers applications.
“Every application dealt with now eliminates the need for that application to be heard in the fall,”
Popescul said. “Also, resolving procedural issues earlier will pave the way for the action to be concluded one way or another — by settlement or trial.”
COVID-19 has had an impact on the court as it has on virtually every front within society. But Popescul stresses the court has remained “open” throughout and has continued to deal with various matters — including criminal cases — to guard against further backlog. It will continue to do so throughout the summer months with pretrial conferences and yet-pending summary conviction appeals.
“The court has every intention of resuming trials and other hearings after Sept. 1,” he said.
“The nature and extent of the cases that need to be heard in the fall is a work in progress. While the path forward in the fall is not fully developed, and there are undoubtedly challenges that need to be overcome, the court is confident that it will be able to continue to properly serve the lawyers and litigants that appear before it.”