The Provincial Court of Saskatchewan is the

provincial court The court system of Canada is made up of many courts differing in levels of legal superiority and separated by jurisdiction. In the courts, the judiciary interpret and apply the law of Canada. Some of the courts are Government of Canada, feder ...

of record for the province of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. It hears matters relating to criminal law, youth law, civil law, family law, traffic law and municipal bylaws.

Jurisdiction

The Provincial Court is a creation of

statute A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

, and as such its

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

is limited to those matters permitted by statute. It has no

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 ...

, other than to the limited degree in which it may control its own procedures. In criminal matters, it is a trial court for all summary conviction offences. For indictable criminal offences, it can be a trial court if an accused person elects to have his or her trial in that court. When an accused charged with an indictable offence elects trial by a

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 ...

(the Saskatchewan Court of King's Bench), the preliminary inquiry will be held in the Provincial Court. The Provincial Court is also designated as the Youth Justice Court under the ''

Youth Criminal Justice Act The ''Youth Criminal Justice Act'' (YCJA; ) is a federal Canadian statute that covers the prosecution of youths for criminal offences. Coming into effect on April 1, 2003, the Act replaced the '' Young Offenders Act'', which itself was a repl ...

'' of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. In civil matters, the Small Claims division of the court is limited to claims for up to $30,000. The Provincial Court also has limited family law jurisdiction, except for

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

proceedings and the division of matrimonial

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, re ...

Judges of the Court

The Court is composed of the Chief Judge and 48 other judges. The judges are appointed by the provincial government. To be eligible for appointment, a person must have at least 10 years' experience as a lawyer, or have other legal experience which is satisfactory to the Judicial Council of Saskatchewan. Once appointed, judges are independent of the government, and can only be removed from office following the procedure set out in the Act. The judges serve until age 65, although the Chief Judge may grant an extension up to age 70.

Current Judges

Sittings of the Court

The Provincial Courts has permanent offices in 13 towns and cities: Estevan, La Ronge, Lloydminster, Meadow Lake, Melfort, Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Prince Albert, Regina, Saskatoon, Swift Current, Wynyard and Yorkton. The Court also sits in almost 70 smaller centres across the province. Judges of the Provincial Court are addressed as "Your Honour", or "His/Her Honour".

History

The Provincial Court superseded the former Magistrate's Court,During an interim period as the transition was made, qualified lawyers appointed to the Magistrate's Court bench were deemed "Judges of the Magistrate's Court. at which time the

stipendiary magistrate Stipendiary magistrates were magistrates that were paid for their work (they received a stipend). They existed in the judiciaries of the United Kingdom and those of several former British territories, where they sat in the lowest-level criminal ...

s were replaced by qualified lawyers.

Courts of Saskatchewan

There are three main courts in Saskatchewan: *

Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan The Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan (SKCA) is a Canadian appellate court. Jurisdiction and structure The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal is the highest court in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. The Court consists of eight full time judges, ...

appellate court An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appel ...

; highest court of Saskatchewan. *

Court of King's Bench for Saskatchewan The Court of King's Bench for Saskatchewan (Court of Queen's Bench for Saskatchewan during the reign of female monarchs) is the Superior court, superior trial court for the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. ...

superior trial court of Saskatchewan with inherent and general jurisdiction * Provincial Court of Saskatchewan –

court of first instance A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). ...

; trial court with jurisdiction defined by statute

Notes

External links

Courts of Saskatchewan

Provincial Court Act 1998

Saskatchewan Archives Board , Court Records
{{Courts of Canada Saskatchewan courts

1978 establishments in Canada Courts and tribunals established in 1978