The Applicant sought to restore her Appeal of a Decision of the Court of King’s Bench that addressed parenting and child support (the “Application”). Grosse J.A. granted the Application and extended time for the restoration of the Appeal to the date of the Order.

The Applicant filed her Notice of Appeal on July 21, 2023, without the assistance of counsel. The Appeal was a fast-track Appeal. As a result, the Applicant had one month to file her Appeal Record pursuant to Rules 14.14(2) and 14.16(3). The Applicant submitted her Appeal Record on August 18, 2023, but it was rejected on the basis that she did not upload a separate copy of the transcripts. On the same day, the Applicant took steps to rectify the error and submitted a separate copy of the transcripts. On August 21, 2023, the Applicant served counsel for the Respondent with unfiled copies of the Appeal Record and transcripts.

On August 22, 2023, the registry rejected the Applicant’s transcripts because it was not apparent that the submission was copied to opposing counsel. On August 22, 2023, the Applicant’s Appeal was struck because the Appeal Record was not filed within the time mandated by the Rules (the “Struck Notice”). Upon receiving the Struck Notice, the Applicant retained counsel who help her prepare and file the Application three days after receiving the Struck Notice.

The Respondent argued that the Appeal must be deemed abandoned pursuant to Rule 14.65(3)(b) because more than three months had passed since the Appeal was struck and the Application had not yet been granted. In response, Grosse J.A. commented that when an Appeal is struck, it may be restored with the filed written consent of the parties, which did not happen in this case.

Grosse J.A. further commented that parties and counsel should be mindful of Rule 14.55(1), which provides that parties to an Appeal are responsible for managing the Appeal and for planning its resolution “in a timely and cost‑effective way”. Grosse J.A. further cited 1664694 Alberta Ltd v Beljan Development Management, 2022 ABCA 41 for the proposition that responsible management of an Appeal includes reacting responsibly to non-prejudicial slips.