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SUPREME COURT OF THE
NWT
Practice Directions
Practice
Directions from the NWT Courts can be found at the following
website:
http://www.nwtcourts.ca/Registry/ndd.htm
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
BY SURETY
Part
4 of the Criminal Procedure Rules of the Supreme Court sets
out certain requirements with respect to applications for judicial
interim release and bail reviews. In particular, Rule 32(2)(b)
stipulates that, on an application for release by an accused, the
application should be accompanied by, where practicable to do so, an
affidavit of each person proposed to serve as a surety disclosing
that person's willingness to serve and the amount for which that
person is to be liable.
In
many, if not most cases, such an affidavit is not provided and the
court must rely on counsel's representations or the accused's
evidence only. And there is usually little if any information
provided as to the surety's understanding of the obligations and
potential liabilities in being a surety.
Therefore,
the judges of the Supreme Court hereby direct that in all
applications for judicial interim release, including any request for
release at a 30 or 90 day bail review, if a surety is proposed, the
intended surety must sign the "Acknowledgment by Surety" form
appended hereto as Form "A". The signed form can be presented at the
hearing or it can be signed by the surety at the time the release
document is signed. The original of the signed form shall be kept on
the court file.
If
counsel present an affidavit from the proposed surety at the
hearing, the form can be annexed to the affidavit as an exhibit.
MANDATORY
PRE-TRIAL CASE MANAGEMENT IN FAMILY CASES
In
the interest of effectively and efficiently dealing with family
cases coming to trial, the judges of the Supreme Court are
implementing a requirement for a case management meeting for every
family case when a certificate of readiness for trial is filed.
Prior to obtaining a trial date, counsel will be required to attend
a case management meeting.
The
meeting may be in the form of a settlement -oriented conference with
a view to settlement of all or some of the issues. The phrase
"settlement-oriented conference" includes the different varieties of
such conferences, whether it be judicial mediation or a request for
a non-binding opinion, that have as the aim the resolution of all or
some of the issues in dispute. In such cases, it will normally be
expected that the clients will be present or at least counsel will
have instructions on potential settlement. Counsel will also be
expected to file settlement briefs, outlining the issues and the
positions of the parties, prior to such a meeting. The meeting may,
on the other hand, be simply a meeting to organize the trial. But,
in any and every case, a meeting will be held prior to setting the
trial date.
This
requirement applies as well in a case with a self-represented
litigant, although in such case the conference will have a more
formal structure and be on the record.
Henceforth,
when counsel are Submitting a certificate of readiness, in addition
to the information required in the certificate, counsel must
also:
(a) provide available dates for a case management
meeting;
(b) indicate the type of case management meeting
contemplated by counsel; and,
(c) indicate whether the parties
will be present in person at such meeting.
For
general guidance on the court's case management practices, counsel
are referred to the two Notices to the Profession on the subject
issued in 1996 and 1999.
This
Practice Direction takes effect as of April 1, 2010. | 
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