Federal Courts Rules: proportionality and motions

Summary#

This is a proposed set of changes to the Federal Courts Rules, published on April 10, 2021. The amendments would add a formal proportionality rule, create tools to remove abusive or frivolous filings, clarify how motions are handled at the Federal Court of Appeal, and change the courts’ holiday and recess rules. Comments were invited for 60 days after publication.

What it does#

These are the main, plain-language changes the proposal would make to the Federal Courts Rules:

• Add a proportionality principle (new Rule 3). Judges would be told to weigh the complexity and importance of a case against its cost and delay.
• Give the court power to remove documents from the court file if they are scandalous, frivolous, vexatious or clearly unfounded (amended Rule 74). Parties must be given a chance to say why first.
• Let the court limit the scope or duration of examinations (new Rule 87.1). This is intended to prevent overly long or disproportionate questioning.
• Change how motions at the Federal Court of Appeal are handled:
  • Introduce rules (new Rules 369.1 and 369.2) saying motions are decided on written materials unless the court allows an oral hearing.
  • A party can request an oral hearing by attaching a written request and reasons to its motion record.
  • If a motion stays written, the moving party may file reply materials within 4 days after getting the respondent’s record.
  • A respondent in the appeal court must file its motion record within 10 days of being served.
• Replace the term “Christmas recess” with a more inclusive “seasonal recess” and define that period as December 21 to January 7.
• Broaden the definition of “holiday” so the courts’ registries can be closed on certain statutory holidays (for example when a holiday falls on a weekend and the following Monday is a day off).

Who's affected#

People and groups most likely to notice these changes:

• Parties and lawyers in cases before the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal.
• Self-represented litigants, who the proposal says the rules should help by clarifying procedures and reducing repeated or duplicative motions.
• Judges and court staff, who would use the new tools to manage cases and filings.
• Anyone who files time-sensitive court documents, since the revised holiday and recess rules affect filing deadlines and registry openings.
• It is unclear whether there are other indirect effects on particular industries; the proposal says small businesses would not be directly affected.

Why it matters#

• The changes aim to speed up cases and reduce costs by stopping overly complex or abusive uses of procedure. That could help parties with fewer resources avoid being worn down by delay tactics.
• Making most appeal-court motions written by default should free up judges’ time for full appeals, but it could mean fewer in-person hearings for some procedural disputes.
• The new rules give the courts clearer tools to remove filings that waste time, which could reduce delays and unnecessary expenses for other parties.
• Changing “Christmas recess” to “seasonal recess” and aligning holiday rules with common statutory holidays makes court operations more predictable and allows registries to close on those days.
• These are proposed amendments, not law yet. If approved, they would take effect on the day they are officially registered. Comments were invited for 60 days after the notice.