The Court of King's Bench of Alberta (abbreviated in citations as ABKB or Alta. K.B.) is the

superior court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

of the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. Until 2022, it was named Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta. The Court of Queen's Bench in Calgary was relocated to the

Calgary Courts Centre Calgary Courts Centre is the largest court facility in Canada, and is located in Calgary, Alberta. It was constructed by the Government of Alberta and provides over 1 million square feet (90,000 m²) of court and office space. History Constructio ...

in 2007. The Court of King's Bench has been located at the Law Courts building in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

since the 1970s.

History

The court originates from the old

Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories The Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories is the name of two different superior courts for the Canadian territory of the Northwest Territories, which have existed at different times. The first Supreme Court of the North-West Territories was c ...

. Two years after Alberta became a province in 1905, the court was reorganized as the Supreme Court of Alberta and several lower district courts possessing a more limited jurisdiction. In 1921, the Supreme Court was reorganized to have an independent trial division (Supreme Court of Alberta Trial Division), and an independent appellate division (Supreme Court of Alberta Appellate Division), the precursor to the Court of Appeal of Alberta. On June 30, 1979, the Supreme Court Trial Division was renamed as "Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta". The district courts created in 1907 were amalgamated into the District Court of Northern Alberta and the District Court of Southern Alberta in 1935, merging altogether into the District Court of Alberta in 1975. In 1979, it merged for the last time, this time back with the Supreme Court, into the Court of Queen's Bench.

Structure

The court consists of a chief justice of the court, two associate chief justices (one in Edmonton and one in Calgary), and several judges including those judges who have elected supernumerary status after many years of service and after having attained eligibility for retirement (typically at age 65). A justice of the Court of Appeal of Alberta is an ''ex officio'' justice of the Court of King's Bench and may sit on that court. Likewise, a justice of the Court of King's Bench may sit on a panel of the Court of Appeal, by invitation of the chief justice of Alberta. The chief justice of Alberta and the chief justice of the Court of the King's Bench are distinct offices. The former is the chief justice of the province and sits on the Court of Appeal, while the latter is the chief justice of a court and sits on the Court of King's Bench. The province is divided into 11 districts with court sitting in 13 different locations (some districts have a primary and a secondary location). the locations were: *Calgary *Drumheller *Edmonton *Fort McMurray *Grande Prairie *High Level *Hinton *Lethbridge *Medicine Hat *Peace River *Red Deer *St. Paul *Wetaskiwin

Jurisdiction

As a superior court, it has

inherent jurisdiction Inherent jurisdiction is a doctrine of the English common law that a superior court has the jurisdiction to hear any matter that comes before it, unless a statute or rule limits that authority or grants exclusive jurisdiction to some other court o ...

and therefore, may hear matters despite absence of specific statutory delegation. Thus, it operates as a civil and criminal trial court, hears

surrogate A surrogate is a substitute or deputy for another person in a specific role and may refer to: Relationships * Surrogacy, an arrangement where a woman agrees to carry and give birth to a child for another person who will become its parent at bi ...

matters, as well as certain appeals from the

Provincial Court of Alberta The Provincial Court of Alberta is the Provincial Court for the Canadian province of Alberta. The Court oversees matters relating to criminal law, family law, youth law, civil law and traffic law. The current Provincial Court is the first point o ...

. Appeals from the court lie with the Court of Appeal. Civil procedure before the court are set out in the

Alberta Rules of Court The ''Alberta Rules of Court'' are a regulation enacted pursuant to the Alberta Judicature Act, and form the civil practice and procedural rules governing court proceedings in the Canadian province of Alberta, specifically in the Court of King's Be ...

Appointments

Although provincial superior courts are administered by the provinces, they are considered to be Section 96 courts (from Section 96 of the '' Constitution Act, 1867''). Therefore, appointments to the court are within federal jurisdiction and made by

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Styling

The ''Court of Queen's Bench Act'' sets out the styling convention of the court in Section 2.1. During the reign of a

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

, it is known as the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta. On September 8, 2022, upon the accession of King Charles III to the throne, the name changed to the Court of King's Bench of Alberta.

Former justices of the court

* Joe Kryczka (1980 to 1991) * Joanne B Veit (1981 to 2017) * Sheila J. Greckol (2001 to 2016) *

Sheilah Martin Sheilah L. Martin is a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, having served in that role since December 18, 2017. She was nominated to the court by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on November 29, 2017. Before her appointment to Canada's h ...

(2005 to 2016) * Ritu Khullar (2017 to 2018) * J Richard Philippe Marceau (1995 - ?) * N.C. Wittmann

Former chief justices of the court

* Allan H.J. Wachowich (2001-2009) * W. Kenneth Moore *

William R. Howson William Robinson Howson (March 6, 1883 – June 25, 1952) was a politician, judge, debt collector, soldier, banker, and real estate agent from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1930 to 1936 sit ...

Thomas Tweedie Thomas Mitchell March Tweedie (March 4, 1871 – October 4, 1944) was a Canadian politician, lawyer and Chief Justice in Alberta, Canada. Early life Thomas Mitchell March Tweedie was born in River John, Nova Scotia, on March 4, 1871, to Jam ...

(1944-1944)

References

External links

* {{Courts of Canada Alberta courts

1921 establishments in Alberta Courts and tribunals established in 1921