You must “
file”
the original and five (5) copies of your application for leave to appeal
prepared in accordance with
Rule
25 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada and all supporting
material with the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada within 60 days
of the date of the court of appeal's judgment. The
60
days are counted
from
- the date the judgment was pronounced orally in the court of appeal or,
- if the judgment was not pronounced orally, the date of the written judgment.
The
month of July is not counted in calculating this deadline.
The application for leave to appeal must include everything that is shown
in the
application
for leave to appeal sample book. However, the memorandum of argument must
not exceed 20 pages.
If you miss your deadline for filing a document, you must file and
serve a motion for an extension of time together with an affidavit
explaining the reasons for the delay. Your motion for an extension of
time will be considered together with your leave application.
You must, within 60 days of the date of the court of appeal's judgment,
“
serve”
a copy of your application for leave to appeal and all supporting material
on all parties who were before the court of appeal and are named in the
style of cause (See
Rule 22(2)) of your application for leave to appeal.
If you have chosen in your application for leave to appeal not to name one
of the parties who were before the court of appeal, you must nevertheless
send a copy of your notice of application for leave to appeal to that party.
A Court file will be opened once your complete application for
leave to
appeal is filed with the Registrar. An application for leave to
appeal is
complete once you have complied with all the requirem and has been
reviewed by the Registry. An application for leave to appeal is complete
once your have complied with all the requirements of the Court's Rules
and have filed all the required documents. The Registry will advise
you in writing of your file number. You can use that file number to
search the
Court docket on
SCC
Case Information.
In some cases, a Court file will be opened if you have complied with
most of the requirements of the Rules or if you have filed
most of the required documents. However, your application for leave to appeal will
be classified as incomplete and you must still file and serve all the required
documents and comply with all the requirements of the Rules within 60 days
of the court of appeal's judgment. If you miss this deadline, the Registrar
may send you a notice advising you that your application for leave to appeal
will be dismissed as abandoned unless you get a judge to extend the time to
complete your application for leave to appeal.
A Court file will not be opened . . .
if many of the required documents are missing or if the application for leave
to appeal book is not assembled properly. The Registrar may return the material
to you and this may cause you to miss the deadline for filing.
OR
if your case is not properly before the Supreme Court of Canada: e.g., if
you do not have a final judgment from an appeal court or if the Court does
not have “
jurisdiction”.
The other party (“
respondent”)
may file a response (an original and five (5) copies) and serve it
on all
other parties within 30 days of the date a file number is assigned
to your application for leave to appal. The respondent will be advised
in writing.
The
month of July and
the
holiday recess (from December 21 to January 7)
are not counted in calculating the deadline for filing and service of the
response.
You are permitted to file a reply (an original and five (5) copies) to the
respondent's response and serve it on all other parties within 10 days of
receiving the response. The memorandum of argument in your reply must not
exceed 5 pages. A reply may be prepared in the form of correspondence.
If you miss the deadline for filing your reply, the Court may render a decision
without having received your reply.
The month of July and the holiday
recess (from December 21 to January 7)
are not counted in calculating the deadline for filing and service of your
reply.
At the expiry of the deadline for filing the reply, your application for
leave to appeal, together with the response and reply, will be submitted (sent)
by the Registrar to a panel of three judges for decision.
No one may file and serve additional material once the application for leave
to appeal has been submitted unless permission is given by the Registrar (
Rule
32 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada). To obtain permission,
you must file a motion with the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada.
7. Do I have to appear in Court?
The whole process is done in writing only. You do not have to
appear at the Court to argue your application for leave to appeal.
Unless in very rare cases however, the Court may ask that an oral
hearing be held. If such an order is made, you will be given advance
notice.
In an appeal relating to an indictable offence, you may ask the Court for an oral hearing pursuant to section 43(1.2) of the
Act if
- the court of appeal set aside an acquittal and ordered a new trial, and
- you are not otherwise appealing as of right on a question of law on which a judge of the court of appeal has dissented.
Decisions are rendered in writing. You can generally expect the decision
in your case to be released between one and three months after your application
for leave to appeal was submitted (sent) to the panel of judges. You will
receive a telephone call from the Registry a few days before the decision
to advise you of the date your judgment will be rendered. You
will not receive
a second telephone call from the Registry to advise you of the content
of the decision. If you wish to be informed of the Court’s decision
on the day of the judgment, you may contact the Registry by telephone at
613-996-8666 after the judgment is released. Decisions are usually available
on
SCC
Case Information on
the day they are rendered.
You can
subscribe to the Court's mailing
list in
order to be notified.
It will not be necessary for you to come to the Registry to get your judgment.
A copy will be sent to you by mail.
The Court does not issue reasons for its decisions to allow or dismiss applications
for leave to appeal.
| If the application is... |
Then... |
| granted |
- this does not mean that the judgment of the Court of
Appeal is reversed. It only means that you have permission to argue
your appeal before the Supreme Court, and
- the Registry will advise you of the procedure to be followed.
|
| dismissed |
the judgment on the application
for leave to appeal is final:
- According to Rule
74, an application for leave to appeal will not be reheard; and
- According to Rule
73, an application for leave to appeal will not be reconsidered
unless there are exceedingly rare circumstances in the case
that warrant consideration.
|
If your application for leave to appeal is dismissed and you think one of
the “exceedingly rare” circumstances exists in your case, we strongly
urge you to seek legal advice.
Example of a rare circumstance:
A change was made to the law made at the same time as you were making your
application for leave to appeal.
You should be aware that in addition to filing fees paid to the Registrar,
you may be ordered to pay
costs claimed by the respondent
if the Court dismisses your application for leave to appeal.
Costs for applications for leave to appeal range from $800 to over $2000.
Exception:
Costs are generally not ordered in criminal cases.
