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97% criminal cases end in provincial court: Alberta Chief Justice

Alberta’s provincial courts have been renamed. Provincial courts are busiest in the province where all of the criminal matters begin and more than 97 per cent of them end: Chief Justice of the Alberta Court of Justice.
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Provincial courts are the busiest in the province.

EDMONTON, ALTA., - Alberta’s provincial courts have been renamed effective today. The Provincial Court of Alberta is now known as The Alberta Court of Justice. Judges presiding over matters in court will have their official titles changed from ‘judge’ to ‘justice.’

This new name will accurately reflect the fact that the provincial courts are the busiest in the province where all of the criminal matters begin and more than 97 per cent of them end.

“The name Alberta Court of Justice more clearly communicates the nature, purpose, and independence of our work on behalf of Albertans,” said Chief Justice of the Alberta Court of Justice Derek Redman in a prepared statement to media Saturday.

Every year, more than 500,000 people interact with the Alberta Court of Justice in some way, either as a witness, as a lawyer, as a defendant, or as a plaintiff.

“Over the past five decades, Alberta’s front-line, trial-level court has grown in size and complexity, and has evolved to meet the changing needs of the province and its people,” said Redman. “We have requested this new name to reflect that growth and that evolution.”

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