January 18, 2022 – Notice – Provincial Court of Manitoba RE: COVID-19 Suspension and Restriction of Hearings
“This Notice is further to the Notices issued December 23, 2021 and December 29, 2021. We continue to be concerned about the COVID-19 numbers and the Omicron variant. Given this, and in order to continue to balance the health and safety of court participants with providing meaningful access to justice, we will be extending the court closures set out in the above noted Notices up to and including February 25, 2022.”
“Please review the Notice of January 7, 2022, as a reminder on how to book remote appearances.”
“On November 12, 2021, The Queen’s Bench Statutory Rules Committee met and passed Queen’s Bench Rule Amendments dealing with Rule 76 Small Claims. The Rule 76 Amendments are required to align with amendments to the Court of Queen’s Bench Small Claims Practices Act coming into force on January 1, 2022.
The Rule 76 amendments address appeals of a decision of a court officer, with a new requirement for an Application for Leave to Appeal and Notice of Appeal to be accompanied by a copy of the transcript of proceedings before the court officer or proof that a transcript of the proceedings has been ordered.
” Effective immediately in all centres, all adult and youth in custody bail and disposition courts will continue to sit and all bails and dispositions will presumptively be done virtually, either by video or telephone until further notice. Bail Triage will proceed virtually.”
“Effective January 4, 2022, in the major court centres of Winnipeg, Portage la Prairie, Brandon, Dauphin, The Pas and Thompson, the Provincial Court of Manitoba will hear all in custody and out of custody trials, continuations, special sittings and preliminary hearings in person.”
For more information including Gun Prohibition Court, Legal Aid Administrative Court, Private Prosecution Court, Circuit Locations, Child Protection and Family Matters, and others, see the full notice.
In-person sittings returning to select locations as part of incremental easing of Provincial Court restrictions. See the full notice below for details and dates.
Notice: Further Resumptions and Some Continued Restrictions
In line with public health directives, the Provincial court continues re-opening with incremental steps. This follows protocols already in place pursuant to previous Notices of June 23 and July 20, 2021.
The Provincial Court of Manitoba remains closed to members of the general public. The Court will continue to hear all trials, preliminary inquiries and Inquests in the court centres. Beginning August 30, 2021, the presumption that counsel and accused persons will appear remotely will no longer apply to adult matters proceeding to disposition and all matters under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Child Protection dockets will be held in the community or court centre where they are ordinarily heard.
Additional protocols and information are available in the notice.
This notice expands on the previous notice on October 22, 2020. The courts are still evaluating the pilot project which addresses overnight arrests and custody . The program will be extended until December 31, 2021 to assess if it is having the desired outcome.
All levels of the Manitoba courts have issued a notice regarding the easing of restrictions in the new public health order. These changes are still being reviewed and until further notice those attending the laws courts will still be required to follow protocol including initial screening conducted by sheriffs officers, wearing of masks, appropriate social distancing and sanitation measures.
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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The Great Library will be closed from December 25, 2024 to January 1, 2025 for the winter holidays. Regular office hours will resume on Thursday, January 2, 2025.
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