Marginal note:Transmitting record

551. Where a justice orders an accused to stand trial, the justice shall forthwith send to the clerk or other proper officer of the court by which the accused is to be tried, the information, the evidence, the exhibits, the statement if any of the accused taken down in writing under section 541, any promise to appear, undertaking or recognizance given or entered into in accordance with Part XVI, or any evidence taken before a coroner, that is in the possession of the justice.

Marginal note:Appointment

• 551.1 (1) On application by the prosecutor or the accused or on his or her own motion, the Chief Justice or the Chief Judge of the court before which a trial is to be or is being held or the judge that the Chief Justice or the Chief Judge designates may, if he or she is of the opinion that it is necessary for the proper administration of justice, appoint a judge as the case management judge for that trial at any time before the jury selection, if the trial is before a judge and jury, or before the stage at which the evidence on the merits is presented, if the trial is being heard by a judge without a jury or a provincial court judge.

• Marginal note:Conference or hearing

  (2) The Chief Justice or the Chief Judge or his or her designate may order that a conference between the prosecutor and the accused or counsel for the accused or a hearing be held for the purpose of deciding if it is necessary for the proper administration of justice to proceed with the appointment.

• Marginal note:Timing of application or appointment

  (3) In the case of a trial for an indictable offence, other than a trial before a provincial court judge, the application or appointment may only be made after the prosecution prefers the indictment.

• Marginal note:Same judge

  (4) The appointment of a judge as the case management judge does not prevent him or her from becoming the judge who hears the evidence on the merits.

Marginal note:Role

551.2 The case management judge shall assist in promoting a fair and efficient trial, including by ensuring that the evidence on the merits is presented, to the extent possible, without interruption.

Marginal note:Powers before evidence on merits presented

• 551.3 (1) In performing his or her duties before the stage of the presentation of the evidence on the merits, the case management judge, as a trial judge, may exercise the powers that a trial judge has before that stage, including

  • (a) assisting the parties to identify the witnesses to be heard, taking into account the witnesses’ needs and circumstances;

  • (b) encouraging the parties to make admissions and reach agreements;

  • (c) encouraging the parties to consider any other matters that would promote a fair and efficient trial;

  • (d) establishing schedules and imposing deadlines on the parties;

  • (e) hearing guilty pleas and imposing sentences;

  • (f) assisting the parties to identify the issues that are to be dealt with at the stage at which the evidence on the merits is presented; and

  • (g) subject to section 551.7, adjudicating any issues that can be decided before that stage, including those related to

    • (i) the disclosure of evidence,

    • (ii) the admissibility of evidence,

    • (iii) the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,

    • (iv) expert witnesses,

    • (v) the severance of counts, and

    • (vi) the separation of trials on one or more counts when there is more than one accused.

• Marginal note:Hearing

  (2) The case management judge shall order that a hearing be held for the purpose of exercising the power referred to in paragraph (1)(g).

• Marginal note:Power exercised at trial

  (3) When the case management judge exercises the power referred to in paragraph (1)(g), he or she is doing so at trial.

• Marginal note:Decision binding

  (4) A decision that results from the exercise of the power referred to in paragraph (1)(g) is binding on the parties for the remainder of the trial — even if the judge who hears the evidence on the merits is not the same as the case management judge — unless the court is satisfied that it would not be in the interests of justice because, among other considerations, fresh evidence has been adduced.