At a meeting held on June 2, 2026, the judges of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, pursuant to ss. 482(1) and 482.1(1) of the Criminal Code, approved amendments to the Criminal Proceedings Rules of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador. These amendments:

• Provide that case management conferences will take place in the same timeline as pre-trial conferences, unless the case management judge directs otherwise; and,
• Clarify that Court staff will request transcripts of previous proceedings in the context of applications for review of bail orders and review of ongoing detention.

The issuance of this Notice, which shall be posted on the website of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, shall be considered publication of these amendments for the purposes of ss. 482(4) and 482.1(5) of the Criminal Code.

RAYMOND P. WHALEN
Chief Justice

The Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, pursuant to subsections 482(1) and 482.1(1) of the Criminal Code, hereby makes the following amendments to the Criminal Proceedings Rules of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, September 15, 2026.

1. Rule 10.05 of the rules is repealed and the following is substituted:

First Case Management Conference

10.05 (1) On receipt of an order that the case shall be case managed, a registry clerk shall request the Chief Justice or the designate of the Chief Justice to assign a case management judge.

(2) Following the assignment of the case management judge, a registry clerk shall schedule the first case management conference to be held within 90 days of the day on which the indictment was filed with the court, or such other date as directed by the case management judge, where one has not been scheduled in accordance with Rule 9.03.

(3) The parties shall prepare a Pre-Trial Report in CR Form 9.04 before the first case management conference and rule 9.04 applies to the case management conference with any necessary modifications.

2. Rule 14.02(1)(c) of the rules will be repealed and replaced with the following:

(c) by an accused or the prosecutor at any time prior to the trial, under subparagraph 523(2), section 523.1 or section 524 of the Code.

3. Immediately following Rule 14.03(2) of the rules, there shall appear:

(3) On receiving an application under subsection 525(1) of the Code, where the accused appears and does not waive their right to a hearing pursuant to subsection 525(3) of the Code, a registry clerk shall request a transcript of any previous proceedings under sections 515, 520, 521, subsection 523(2), section 523.1 and section 524 of the Code, unless the judge specifically dispenses with this requirement.

4. The word “and” shall be inserted immediately following Rule 14.05(1)(c).

5. Rule 14.05(1)(d) of the rules will be repealed and rule 14.05(1)(e) shall be relettered as (d).

6. Rule 14.05(3) of the rules will be repealed and rule 14.05(4) shall be renumbered as (3).

7. Immediately following Rule 14.05 of the rules, there shall appear:

Transcripts of Review Proceedings

14.06(1) Where an applicant seeks a review of a previous order, a registry clerk shall request a transcript of any previous proceedings under sections 515, 520, 521, subsection 523(2), section 523.1 or section 524 of the Code, unless the judge specifically dispenses with this requirement.

(2) Where a transcript of a previous review proceeding is not available, the registry clerk shall notify the applicant, who shall file a supplementary affidavit containing a summary of the material evidence given at the previous proceeding within 14 days of receiving notice.

8. Rules 14.06 and 14.07 of the rules shall be renumbered as 14.07 and 14.08, respectively.

9. These amendments come into force on September 15, 2026.

View the notice here.

Posted: 15 September 2026