An Emergency Protection Order is the fastest protective order available in Alberta. It is granted under the Protection Against Family Violence Act by a justice of the Alberta Court of Justice or a justice of the peace, without notice to the respondent, where family violence has occurred, the claimant has reason to believe it will continue or resume, and the seriousness or urgency of the situation calls for immediate protection. In Calgary, an EPO can be obtained at any hour through the Calgary Police Service, by telephone through the Court of Justice hearing office, or in person at the Calgary Courts Centre during court hours. The order can remove the respondent from the home, prohibit any contact, including contact through other people, keep the respondent away from the claimant’s residence, workplace and the children’s school, and direct the seizure of weapons.
The Act protects family members, a term that covers current and former spouses and adult interdependent partners, people who live or have lived together in an intimate relationship, parents of a child, whether or not they ever lived together, relatives, and children in their care. Family violence under the Act means intentional or reckless conduct causing injury or property damage that intimidates or harms, threats that create a reasonable fear of injury or damage, forced confinement, sexual abuse and stalking. Every EPO must be scheduled for review by a justice of the Court of King’s Bench no later than nine working days after it is granted. At that review, the justice considers everything that was before the justice of the peace, may hear further evidence, and may confirm the order, revoke it, direct an oral hearing, or replace it with a King’s Bench Protection Order.
Keystone Legal advises claimants before and after an EPO is granted and represents them at the King’s Bench review, which is where the order is tested and where its terms and duration are decided. That work includes preparing the claimant’s evidence for the review, anticipating the respondent’s position, seeking the terms that will hold, such as exclusive occupation of the residence, no-contact terms that extend to the children where appropriate, and weapons provisions, and, where a longer or broader order is needed, applying for a King’s Bench Protection Order, which can remain in force for up to one year and be extended. Where parenting or the family home also needs to be addressed, the firm brings those applications alongside the protection order so that the family’s arrangements are dealt with together.
Anyone in immediate danger should call 911. For everything that follows, Keystone Legal works with Calgary clients virtually and, by arrangement, in person, appears at the Calgary Courts Centre, and serves clients in English and French. Protection order matters are given priority in the firm’s schedule; call (587) 328-3328.
