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Appeal Rules
PART 3: GETTING READY FOR THE HEARING
Division 3
Scheduling the Hearing and Deciding
PRE-HEARING ISSUES AND APPLICATIONS
Sections
Scheduling the appeal hearing [back to top section]
3.6(1) The Appeals Commission must schedule a date, time and place for an appeal hearing if
- it has received from the appellant a completed certificate of readiness to proceed, a completed request for hearing form, and if required, a list of additional documents and copies of them, and
- there is no unresolved application or issue that should delay the scheduling of a hearing.
(2) If a party provides a list of additional documents on which the party intends to rely, the Appeals Commission must provide copies of them to every other party.
Pre-hearing conference
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3.7(1) The Appeals Commission may require the parties to attend or participate in a pre-hearing conference to discuss procedural or substantive issues, or both, relating to the conduct of the appeal.
(2) A pre-hearing conference may, without limitation, deal with all or any of the following and the Appeal Commission may make an appropriate order or direction under rule 1.12 [General authority of the Appeals Commission]:
- identification of the issues;
- determination of new evidence or additional evidence, including whether any new medical or other expert evidence is required and the time-frames for the production of that evidence;
- procedural issues, including whether an oral hearing will be convened and, if so, when the hearing should be scheduled, and whether a hearing should be recorded;
- the issue of a notice to attend the hearing or a notice to produce documents, or both;
- an application for an order or direction under any other rule.
Expert and other witnesses
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3.8(1) The Appeals Commission may direct a party to file with the Appeals Commission and send to every other party the qualifications and a summary of the evidence of a witness, including a medical or technical witness, that the party intends to rely on at the hearing.
(2) The qualifications and summary must be filed at least 14 days before the scheduled hearing date.
Application to obtain evidence from a witness
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3.9(1) In accordance with section 13.1(6) of the Act, a party may apply to the Appeals Commission for an order that a witness, residing in or outside Alberta, be questioned before a person appointed by the Appeals Commission and to have the questions and answers recorded in writing for use in the appeal hearing in a manner similar to that prescribed by the Alberta Rules of Court.
(2) The application must:
- state why the questioning is required, and
- be submitted to the Appeals Commission not less than 30 days before the scheduled hearing date.
(3) The Appeals Commission may refuse to make an order under this rule if, in the opinion of the Appeals Commission,
- the witness could or should attend the hearing,
- the evidence sought is not relevant to the appeal, or
- an order is inappropriate in the circumstances.
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Information note |
Section 13.1(6) of the Act reads: |
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(6) The Appeals Commission may cause depositions of witnesses residing in or outside Alberta to be taken before any person appointed by the Appeals Commission in a manner similar to that prescribed by the Alberta Rules of Court. |
Notice to attend or notice to produce documents
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3.10(1) The Appeals Commission may issue a notice to attend or a notice to produce documents, or both, in accordance with section 13.1(5) of the Act.
(2) An application for a notice to attend or a notice to produce documents must be in writing and,
- state the reasons why the notice is required, including an explanation of why a witness or a document is relevant to the appeal, and
- in the case of a notice to produce documents, describe the documents in sufficient detail that the person to whom the notice is directed is able to identify the requested documents without undue difficulty.
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Information note |
Section 13.1(5) of the Act gives the Appeals Commission the same powers as the Court of Queen’s Bench for compelling the attendance of a witness and examining that witness under oath at a hearing and for compelling the production and inspection of books, papers, documents and things. This can be done through the issuance of a Notice to Attend and a Notice to Produce Documents, respectively. Section 13.1(5) reads |
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(5) The Appeals Commission has the same powers as the Court of Queen’s Bench for compelling the attendance of witnesses and examining them under oath and for compelling the production and inspection of books, papers, documents and things. |
Refusal to issue a notice to attend or notice to produce
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3.11 The Appeals Commission may refuse to issue a notice to attend or a notice to produce documents, or both, if the Appeals Commission considers
- the evidence or documents sought are not relevant to the appeal,
- the reason for the request is insufficient, or
- the evidence is already available from another source.
Application to re-schedule a hearing [back to top section]
3.12(1) If a party wishes to delay or reschedule a hearing, the party must
- apply in writing stating the reason for delaying or rescheduling the hearing, and
- send a copy of the application to every other party, seeking their consent to the application.
(2) The applicant must notify the Appeals Commission as soon as possible whether the other parties consent or object to the delay or rescheduling of the hearing.
(3) The Appeals Commission must decide the application whether or not the parties consent to the delay or rescheduling of the hearing.
Dismissal of appeal for delay [back to top section]
3.13(1) If
- an appeal cannot be processed because an error, inaccuracy or deficiency has not been corrected, or there is some other non-compliance with the Act, regulations or these rules, and 6 months have passed from the date the Appeals Commission notified the appellant of the error, inaccuracy, deficiency or non-compliance, or
- a hearing date has been delayed or a scheduled hearing date has been cancelled and a hearing date is not re-scheduled and 6 months has passed since the delay or cancellation,
the Appeals Commission must, if it intends to consider dismissing the appeal for delay in proceeding, give notice to the parties of its intention and may request oral or written submissions, or both, from the parties.
(2) After considering any submissions received, the Appeals Commission may do all or any of the following:
- extend a period or state a period for an action to be taken;
- issue directions with respect to the further processing of the appeal;
- schedule a hearing date;
- dismiss the appeal for delay in proceeding.
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