April 2, 2020
Ministerial Order on Limitations Periods
The Law Society of Alberta is collaborating with the Government of Alberta on key issues that are impacting the legal profession as the COVID-19 situation evolves.
 
As a part of this collaboration, the Minister of Justice and Solicitor General has issued a Ministerial Order to suspend limitations periods on a number enactments from March 17, 2020 to June 1, 2020.
The government is currently dealing with complex issues from all industries and is prioritizing items based on the immediate needs of Albertans. We appreciate the thoughtful and timely consideration the government is giving to key items that are important to the day-to-day operations of lawyers, including:
 
  • Land Titles 
  • Virtual Commissioning on Affidavits outside of the Court Process, i.e. Affidavits of Execution that are often used in family law and commercial matters
  • Virtual Commissioning as it relates particularly to the Guarantees Acknowledgement Act
 
We will continue to provide updates as we receive information from the Government.
Urgent Matters Application Process for Court of Queen's Bench
Due to a reduction in activity as a result of the public health orders around the COVID-19 pandemic, the Court of Queen’s Bench is hearing Urgent Matters on case by case basis. The list of potential matters that can be heard can be found here.

Lawyers seeking to apply for a Matter to be heard at Court can complete the online form on the Court of Queen's Bench website.
 
Note: The Court has communicated that this is not an exhaustive list and invites Counsel to submit requests where appropriate to address urgent legal needs.
Access to Library Materials and Research Support During COVID-19
While all courthouse library locations may be temporarily closed in response to recent COVID-19 guidelines, Alberta Law Libraries (ALL) remains available to virtually respond to the evolving legal information needs of Alberta lawyers.

As of April 1, ALL added vLex Justice and Emond's Criminal Law Collection to their electronic resources, both of which can be accessed remotely by individual members who are registered clients with ALL.

If you are not sure if you're a registered client or want to become one, contact ALL via email for assistance. For real-time library updates, be sure to subscribe to ALL’s Stay Current blog for more access to resources and research support during COVID-19. 
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