After the Hearing
This section contains practical information on what to do and expect following a Supreme Court of Canada hearing.
Once the hearing is over, counsel are asked to gather their personal belongings, remove them from the courtroom and, when they are ready, return to the Registry to drop off their locker keys. You do not need to sign out. Please note that you may leave any condensed books or other documents at the Registry for recycling.
Judgments
A judgment on an appeal is rendered, on average, 6 months after the hearing. Approximately one week before the judgment is to be rendered, your agent will be informed by telephone of the date of its release. You may subscribe to our mailing list to receive notice of the release of judgments in appeals and in applications for leave to appeal. On a regular basis, if at least one document has been posted, you will receive an email message with a list of links to our documents. In addition, our judgments are also available on our Twitter accounts, in English (@SCC_eng) or in French (@CSC_fra).
Judgments are generally rendered at 9:45 a.m. on a Thursday or Friday and are available on the site shortly after. Counsel or the parties' agents are invited to come to the Registry to pick up a complimentary copy of the judgment and reasons the morning the judgment is rendered. Additional copies of the reasons can be obtained at a cost of $15 each. A photocopy of the judgment will be mailed to each of the parties.
The Registrar has the discretion to limit the number of counsel who appear before the Court, to ensure the proper conduct of an appeal hearing. Only counsel who appear for the hearing will be listed in the published reasons for judgment. The purpose of that list in the reasons for judgment is to provide a record of counsel who officially appeared before the Court at the hearing, not to list everyone who contributed to the file for each party.
Lock-ups
The Court may, at its discretion, hold lock-ups for media and counsel immediately prior to the release of its judgments. The purpose of lock-ups is to facilitate accurate and informed reporting of the Court’s judgments. For further information, see the Court’s Judgment Lock-up Procedure and the related Notice to the Profession.
Ordering a DVD of the Hearing
Anyone interested in obtaining a DVD of a hearing is asked to complete the on-line Request to Use Court Photographs, Webcasts or Audio/Video Recordings.
Broadcasting and Webcasting
Courtroom proceedings are subsequently broadcast or webcast unless a case is not suitable for broadcasting or for webcasting owing to a publication ban or to privacy concerns. After the hearing, a Registry Officer will ask you to fill out a short questionnaire (in Word format) on whether any information subject to a publication ban or sealing order was disclosed. Usually, archived webcasts are available for viewing less than twenty-four hours after the hearing. For more information, go to Archived Webcasts.
If you have requested reserved seating, you may wish to advise those attending that the proceedings will be digitally recorded, that most proceedings are subsequently webcast or broadcast, and that all persons in the Courtroom may appear on camera.
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