Chief Judge Gillespie has issued the following updates on August 6th, 2026:
New consolidated practice direction
We combined three Notices (Notice 02, Notice 24, Notice 36) and three General Practice Directions (GEN 02, GEN 03, GEN 04) into one Practice Direction called GEN 01 Procedures and Directions for All Types of Cases. The new practice direction uses clearer language and is easier for users to navigate. In addition, Non-Lawyers Appearing for Clients has been renumbered from GEN 05 to GEN 02.
GEN 01 Procedures and Directions for All Types of Cases
Notices, policies, practice directions
Access Policy updated and document added for printing
The Court revised the Access Policy today by updating the following:
· The Court records access section now includes an example under “Purpose”
· The Court proceedings access section now has information about how to ask for approval to sketch in a courtroom
· The Publication ban section, subsection 1 (automatic bans), now reflects changes to the Criminal Code made in Bill C-16, Protecting Victims Act
· Under the Court proceedings access section, reference to Notice 24 was replaced with GEN 01 reflecting the creating of the GEN 01 consolidated practice direction
The Court also added a pdf version of the Access Policy for printing that displays the table of contents and has page numbers and clearer navigation.