1. Structure and organization

2. Jurisdiction

3. History

4. Styling

5. Courts of Saskatchewan

6. Notable cases

7. References

8. External links

The Court of Queen's Bench for Saskatchewan is the superior trial court for the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.

Structure and organization

The Court consists of 33 full-time judges^[2] and a number of supernumerary judges, all appointed and paid by the federal government.^[3][4] The court's Chief Justice, currently the Honourable Martel D. Popescul, is styled the Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench. Both the Chief Justice and puisne justices are addressed as "My Lord" or "My Lady" and referred to as "His Lordship" or "Her Ladyship". This differs from the terminology used in the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan, whose judges are "Your Honour", "His Honour" or "Her Honour".

The Court sits in nine judicial centres^[5][6][7] and actions are generally brought in the judicial centre closest to where the action arose, or the residence or place of business of the defendant.^[8]

Jurisdiction

The Court hears civil and criminal law cases. It is a court of inherent jurisdiction and there is no monetary limit on the claims which it may hear. It also has original jurisdiction over matters assigned to it by statute, such as adjudicating human rights complaints.

The court has a Family Law Division, which has exclusive jurisdiction over family law matters in the judicial centres of Saskatoon, Regina, and Prince Albert, and concurrent jurisdiction (with the Provincial Court) over family law matters in all other areas of the province.^[9][10]

As a superior court of original jurisdiction, it has supervisory jurisdiction over administrative tribunals, exercised by the prerogative writs. It also has some appellate jurisdiction, hearing appeals from the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan and some administrative bodies. Appeals may be taken from the Queen's Bench to the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan. A further appeal lies to the Supreme Court of Canada.

History

Until it became a province in 1905, Saskatchewan was part of the North-West Territories as it existed at that time and its judicial system was that of the territory. In fact, it was not until 1907 – two years after Saskatchewan became a province – that the new province's judicial system was established.^[11] The initial court structure of 1907 consisted of three courts: the Supreme Court of Saskatchewan, the District Court (similar to the County Courts of other provinces) and the Surrogate Court. There was no appeal court; rather, appeals were conducted by the Full Court of the Supreme Court of Saskatchewan, consisting of all the judges of the Supreme Court, other than the judge who made the decision under appeal.

During the First World War, the province reorganized its courts. In 1915, the province passed legislation, The King's Bench Act ^[12] and The Court of Appeal Act,^[13] for the purpose of creating a new court structure. Those acts came into effect on March 1, 1918, resulting in the abolition of the Supreme Court of Saskatchewan and the creation of the trial-level Court of King's Bench and the Court of Appeal.^[14][15]

In 1981, Saskatchewan merged its District Court into the Court of Queen's Bench.^[16] As part of that process, the judicial centres of the District Court became the judicial centres of the Court of Queen's Bench.

Styling

Courts of Saskatchewan

There are three main courts in Saskatchewan:

• Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan {{spaced ndash}}appellate court; highest court of Saskatchewan.
• Court of Queen's Bench for Saskatchewan{{spaced ndash}}superior trial court of Saskatchewan with inherent and unlimited jurisdiction
• Provincial Court of Saskatchewan – court of first instance; trial court with jurisdiction defined by statute

Notable cases

In the Crown vs Stanley, presided by Saskatchewan Chief Justice Popescul, an all-white jury^[18] acquitted local Battleford, Saskatchewan farmer Gerald Stanley on February 9, 2018. The jury found that the death of Colten Boushie, from the Cree Red Pheasant First Nation^[17] occurred because of "hang fire".^[20][18] Clint Wuttunee, Chief of the Red Pheasant First Nation, called the verdict "absolutely perverse".^[19][20][21] Following the announcement of the acquittal, rallies and vigils took place across Canada.^[25] The rally at the Saskatoon court attracted 1,000 people who supported Boushie's family and were frustrated by the jury's decision.^[22] At a press conference on February 11, hosted by Saskatoon Tribal Council, Mayor Clark described the event as a "defining moment for this community and this country".^[22]

References

External links

• Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench website

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