Operations

Binder of court rules.

Rules

The Civil Procedure Rules of Nova Scotia govern proceedings in the province's Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, while the Provincial Court Rules govern all applications made before the Provincial Court of Nova Scotia. 

The Rules and Forms for the Nova Scotia Courts are made and amended by the judges of the Courts, with the exception of the Probate Court and Small Claims Court, which are governed by provincial legislation and regulations. 

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Forms and Documents

Just like the Rules governing court, the forms and documents associated with most levels of court are developed and maintained by the Judiciary. These pages also include instruction sheets to assist counsel and self-represented litigants with finding the forms they need and filling them out correctly.  

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Scales of justice in courtroom.
Hands sifting through a stack of legal documents.

Dockets

Like many court files, most court dockets are public records. The Nova Scotia Courts post online dockets for the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court (General Division), Bankruptcy Court, and Night Court in Halifax.

Daily dockets for the Provincial Court, Chambers dockets for the Court of Appeal and Halifax Supreme Court, and Crownside dockets are available by email. 

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Decisions

For citizens to have confidence in the Judiciary and the Courts, judges’ decisions need to be available to the public.

With that in mind, the Nova Scotia Courts self-publish most written decisions and post them in a searchable database. This online collection contains most of the written court decisions released publicly since 2003. The database is updated daily. 

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Boxes of court files.
Woman typing on a laptop with a book open beside her and the scales of justice.

Virtual Court

Virtual court by telephone and videoconferencing platforms allowed the Courts to hear more matters during the pandemic. Virtual court options are still used, where appropriate, in appeal, civil, criminal and family matters across Nova Scotia. Counsel are encouraged to consider and use virtual court whenever possible.

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COVID-19

Throughout the pandemic, the Nova Scotia Courts introduced a wide range of preventative measures to help minimize the spread of the COVID-19 virus in this province, while keeping the Courts open and continuing to hear matters. MORE

Close-up of COVID-19 virus.
Inside of the Court of Appeal courtroom.

Webcasts

Live webcasts of court proceedings are a proven way to help educate the public about the legal system. Since 2008, the Nova Scotia Courts have livestreamed dozens of matters — mostly appeals, sentencing decisions and certification hearings in class action lawsuits.

The archived video of these court proceedings, as well as conferences and other special events, can be found on the Courts' Vimeo page.

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