To reflect the obligation of a judge to ensure that a self-represented litigant has the opportunity to meaningfully participate in the hearing and has a reasonable opportunity to present his or her case to the best of his or her ability, where a motion or application involving a self-represented litigant is to be contested before a judge, prior to the hearing of the contested motion or application, a judge may require the parties to appear at one case management conference with a judge for the purpose of the judge ensuring that the contested matter is ready to proceed, to explain the process and to otherwise advise the self-represented litigant what may be expected. Such a conference may be held by the judge at the time of the appearance on the Civil Uncontested List or may be scheduled before a judge for up to a one-hour period at 9:00 a.m. on a different day.
This practice direction addresses the process by which a plaintiff may, subject to the Court’s discretion, seek to have the originating pleadings and related court records anonymized (i.e., for a plaintiff to be identified using the pseudonym “Unnamed Person” rather than their full legal name). The Court may, at its discretion, make an anonymity order to permit a plaintiff to bring proceedings anonymously in exceptional circumstances where the public interest in open courts is displaced by another important public interest.
“Please be advised that effective November 3, 2025, a new teleconference number is to be used for the Associate Judges’ Uncontested Lists in Winnipeg, Brandon and Dauphin.
The new teleconference number for all locations is 1-833-231-5001. The Participant ID numbers are as follows:
Winnipeg: 5763182
Brandon: 5999498
Dauphin: 5622817 ”
A cornerstone of the Court of King’s Bench Rules is proportionality. This foundational principle extends to written materials that are filed in civil and family proceedings. Increasingly, there is a trend towards longer application and motion briefs, which gives rise to concerns about proportionality and even effective advocacy
To address these concerns, the Court considered imposing limits on the length of briefs. However, recognizing the wide range and varying degrees of complexity of applications and motions, for now, the court has instead opted to simply remind counsel that the most effective briefs are concise and focused. In any given case, should a judge determine that a brief is disproportionate to the nature and complexity of the issue at hand, they may request a more succinct version.
To assist in reducing the volume of material filed as written argument on applications and motions, the following cases, establishing well-known legal principles, need not be included in briefs:
• Dakota Ojibway Child and Family Services v. M.B.H., 2019 MBCA 91;
• White Burgess Langille Inman v. Abbott and Haliburton Co., 2015 SCC 23;
• Hryniak v. Mauldin, [2014] 1 S.C.R. 87; and
• RJR McDonald Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General), [1994] 1 S.C.R. 311.
Finally, it is increasingly common that a file contains affidavits, cross-examination transcripts, and written submissions that are relevant to different scheduled hearings with a lack of information as to which party has filed which documents and for which scheduled hearing. To assist in addressing this concern, the following will now apply to these materials:
• A moving party’s brief shall include a blue cover page;
• A responding party’s brief shall include a beige cover page;
• The cover pages of all affidavits, transcripts, and motions and applications briefs must identify the nature of the motion or application in parentheses immediately below the document title.
For the purpose of transition, the foregoing only applies to documents filed after the date this practice direction comes into effect.
A Pilot Project is being undertaken as part of this Court’s ongoing commitment to enhance access to justice in the area of family law.
King’s Bench Rule 70.24(12) currently permits a judge to hear a motion or application prior to a triage conference in three emergent situations.
…
Following consultation with the Triage Implementation Committee and the Family Law Bar, it has been concluded that there shall be a fourth emergent situation where a judge may hear a pre-triage conference motion or application. This emergent situation is:
(d) extreme financial hardship of a party or a child of a party
…
This Practice Direction comes into effect immediately.
“This is a reminder that the Notice of November 14, 2014 (as attached) regarding the need to e-mail the Criminal Motion Coordinator that a contested bail review will be proceeding in the Court of King’s Bench remains in effect. As such, where counsel do not confirm by e-mail to the Criminal Motion Coordinator that a matter will be proceeding in accordance with the guidelines provided in this Notice, the application will not be heard on a contested basis.”
In order to maximize the court’s ability to offer timely trial dates, it is important that the trial coordinator be advised as soon as possible that an action scheduled for trial is resolved. As such, when an action set for trial resolves, in addition to filing a notice of discontinuance or judgment dismissing, please immediately advise the trial coordinator that the related trial dates may be released.
The Manitoba Law Library would like to acknowledge with gratitude that we are situated on Treaty One Territory, the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Cree and Dakota peoples, and the homeland of the Métis Nation.
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