14 (in addition to chief justice of Alberta, supernumerary judges, and the judges of the Court of King's Bench of Alberta, who are ex officio members of the Court of Appeal)
The Court of Appeal of Alberta (frequently referred to as Alberta Court of Appeal or ABCA) is a Canadian appellate court that serves as the highest appellate court in the jurisdiction of Alberta, subordinate to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Appeals from the Court of Appeal lie with the Supreme Court of Canada, Canada's court of last resort. Other than certain criminal matters, appeals to the Supreme Court of Canada are heard only by leave of that court. Since the Supreme Court denies leave in most cases, the Court of Appeal is the final court for most matters originating in Alberta.
Unlike the Court of King's Bench, the Court of Appeal has no inherent jurisdiction and therefore requires a statute to grant it the power to hear a matter before a panel is convened. As a court of a province, it is administered by the provincial government. Hearings are held exclusively in Edmonton's Law Courts and the Calgary Courts Centre. Unlike other provinces (except Newfoundland and Labrador and Ontario), the Alberta Court of Appeal displays a different coat of arms than its lower courts: the coat of arms of Canada.
History
The court originated from the old Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories which was replaced by the Supreme Court of Alberta in 1907 (shortly after Alberta became a province in 1905). The new Supreme Court of Alberta comprised a trial division and an appellate division (essentially, brother justices of the Supreme Court sitting en banc with a quorum of three).
The second chief justice of Alberta, Horace Harvey, supported an independent appellate court designed only to hear appeals. The Judicature Act enacted these changes in 1919, and it was proclaimed in 1921.[4] It was not until 1979 that the court changed its name to the "Court of Appeal of Alberta" through the Court of Appeal Act,[5] at the same time that the Supreme Court Trial Division and the District Court were amalgamated and renamed the "Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta".
Composition
There are 14 official positions on the bench[6] including the chief justice of Alberta, who is the highest judicial officer in the province. At any given time there may be several additional judges who also sit as supernumerary justices.[6] As a Section 96 court, the justices are appointed by the federal government and may hold office until the age of 75. Some of the justices have elected supernumerary (part-time or semi-retired) status. Occasionally, justices of the Court of King's Bench of Alberta sit on appeals. This is done at the request of a justice of the Court of Appeal. When this happens, these justices are sitting ex officio, but they have the same powers and duties as other justices of the Court of Appeal.
Most cases are heard by a panel of three justices, although the chief justice may convene a larger panel in exceptional circumstances. A single justice presides over matters heard in chambers, usually interlocutory matters or applications for leave to appeal.
↑ Services, Government of Canada, Office of the Secretary to the Governor General, Information and Media. "Order of Canada". archive.gg.ca.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ History, Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal; Alberta, Legal Archives Society of; results, search (December 1, 1995). Northern Justice: The Memoirs of Mr Justice William G. Morrow. Univ of Toronto Pr. ISBN0802007880.
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