Re: Court Resuming Normal Processes for Filing Documents

Issued: June 3, 2020

Filings

Effective June 8, 2020, the Supreme Court will return to its normal processes for filing documents, subject to the exceptions noted below. This means that the Court will no longer accept emailed documents. Documents must be sent by regular mail or left in one of the drop-boxes provided at each Judicial Centre (except those documents that may be filed through the probate e-filing portal).

While the Court recognizes the obvious benefits of permitting broader e-filing, the Court does not currently have an electronic document management system that can accommodate the storage of such filings. During the recent operation of the Court when filing services were reduced, the Court did permit e-filing of all urgent and emergency matters. This required registry clerks to print and collate each e-filed document. Given the current staffing levels and the fact that other methods of filing are now available, this additional work simply cannot be completed.

Where applicable, signatures on Court documents that must be witnessed by a Commissioner for Oaths, should be so witnessed before being filed. Please note that this can be done remotely in some cases (see the Temporary Alternate Witnessing of Documents Act).

As previously noted, documents will be date stamped when they arrive at the courthouse, but the processing of documents filed with the Court may be delayed owing to the current staffing levels and the anticipated volume of filings.

The information related to filings set out in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Notice to the Profession and General Public issued on April 28, 2020 is no longer applicable.

The Court will continue to post further updates and details regarding its operations. Please continue to check the Supreme Court website at www.court.nl.ca/supreme.

Notice to the Profession and General Public – Court Resuming Normal Processes for Filing Documents