Under pilot project effective next month, clerk will reject whole filing upon seeing third error
The Alberta Court of King’s Bench has announced that King’s Bench Operations (KBO) will launch a pilot project introducing a three-strike rule for desk divorce packages submitted by counsel and agents as of Sept. 1.
The court explained that the three-strike rule will apply to all desk divorce package submissions, regardless of whether counsel or agents filed them digitally or emailed them.
The court said the pilot project aims to hold counsel responsible for thoroughly reviewing submissions before filing, promote efficiency, and streamline divorce application processing.
The court expected that the pilot project would help decrease the number of incomplete or unsuitable submissions and the KBO’s time spent on repeated reviews and rejections.
Clerk review
Under the new rule, the clerk will:
- Review the submission
- Immediately stop the review and deny the whole filing upon identifying a third error, omission, or deficiency in the submission
- Note the discontinuation of the review upon the third strike
- Include the three issues seen in the comments
The court noted that the submitting party should verify that the submission complies with the requirements in the following documents before refiling:
- the desk divorce package – clerk review checklist
- joint divorce instructions for those with children
- joint divorce instructions for those without children
- uncontested divorce instructions for those with children
- uncontested divorce instructions for those without children
The desk divorce package – clerk review checklist is a comprehensive and standardized guide that
lists the requirements for form submissions and offers guidance on what clerks review.
The checklist seeks to ensure provincial alignment and consistent processing across all regions, reduce variability, limit the number of corrections returned to parties, promote transparency among internal and external stakeholders, and improve clarity for staff, members of the public, legal professionals, and other stakeholders.
In its announcement, the court noted that the clerk would advise a submitting party of a rejected filing that the three-strike rule would apply to each resubmission, which would go back to the regular processing queue.
Civil and family bar meetings
Earlier this month, the court invited Alberta lawyers practising civil and family law to consider attending the civil and family town hall meetings next month:
- Civil bar meeting: Monday, Sept. 15, at 8:30 a.m.
- Family bar meeting: Monday, Sept. 22, at 12:30 p.m.
The court said those interested could find the links to participate remotely in these meetings in the e-bulletin of the Law Society of Alberta and the e-newsletter of the Canadian Bar Association’s Alberta branch.
