Act and Rules

Notices to the Profession

February 2006 – Press - Lock-Up

Counsel are advised that the Supreme Court of Canada has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery (“CPPG”) by which members of the CPPG may be notified of the Court’s judgment and reasons for judgment during a closed door information session (“lock-up”) held just prior to the scheduled public release of the judgment.

The CPPG will advise the Court of the names of any cases it proposes for a lock-up no later than one month after the Court hears the appeal. Counsel for the main parties will be asked whether they consent to a lock-up. Interveners will not be consulted. If the parties do not consent, there will not be a lock-up. The Court may also refuse to conduct a lock-up despite the consent of the parties.

Only accredited members of the CPPG will be allowed to attend a lock-up. A separate lock-up for counsel for the parties, including interveners, will be held on request of counsel for the main parties. Only counsel of record for each party and for each intervener on the appeal, and/or their respective agents, will be admitted to the counsel lock-up. Counsel and agents will be required to confirm their attendance with the Registry when the Registry informs them of the Court’s approval of the lock-up.

Only one judgment at a time will be dealt with at any given lock-up. No briefing will be given to counsel at the counsel lock-up. Lock-ups will usually begin at 8:30 a.m. on the scheduled date for the release of judgment. Once the lock-up begins, no one will be permitted to leave the briefing room until the judgment is released and participants will be prohibited from all outside communications before public release of the judgment.

Complete guidelines for lock-ups are available from the Registry or at http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/media/decisions/lu-hc-eng.asp. For further information, please contact the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada.

This notice replaces the notice of May 2003.

Anne Roland
Registrar

February 2006