A King’s Bench Protection Order is the longer-term protective order under Alberta’s Protection Against Family Violence Act. It is granted by a justice of the Court of King’s Bench, on application and normally on notice to the respondent, where the justice determines that the claimant has been the subject of family violence. Unlike an Emergency Protection Order, which is designed for the moment of crisis and lasts only until its review, a King’s Bench Protection Order can be made for up to one year and extended for further periods, and it can carry terms that an EPO cannot: reimbursement of losses caused by the violence, including legal expenses; temporary possession of a vehicle, bank cards, identification documents and children’s clothing; restrictions on dealing with property; a bond to secure compliance; and a direction that the respondent attend counselling.
For Calgary families, a King’s Bench Protection Order is often the order that follows an EPO review, granted where the justice revokes the emergency order and replaces it with an order suited to the months that follow. It is also available on its own, where family violence has occurred but the situation does not meet the immediacy an EPO requires, and it can be combined in the same proceeding with exclusive possession of the family home under the Family Property Act and with parenting orders under the Divorce Act or the Family Law Act. Applications under the Protection Against Family Violence Act sit outside the Court’s ordinary family application rules and outside the mandatory intake process, so they proceed on their own footing and on their own timeline.
Keystone Legal acts both for claimants applying for King’s Bench Protection Orders and for respondents defending against them, as well as on the applications that accompany them. For a claimant, the work lies in the evidence, namely a chronology of the violence, the documents and communications that prove it, and a draft order whose terms fit the family’s circumstances. On the respondent’s side, it is a specific answer to each allegation and a considered position on terms, because an order that is broader than the facts support will govern the respondent’s life for a year. In both cases, the firm appears at the Calgary Courts Centre and, where an order is granted, arranges for it to be served so that police can enforce it.
The practice is virtual, so meetings take place by video, telephone and email, with in-person meetings available on request in Cochrane or in Calgary. Advice is available in English or in French. Contested matters proceed at the Calgary Courts Centre, where counsel appears in person, and advisory and uncontested work is available anywhere in Alberta. Call (587) 328-3328 to speak with the firm about a King’s Bench Protection Order.
