Legal Project Management Plan & Checklist
Purpose of this Guide: Use this plan when representing an accused person in Canadian criminal proceedings where a preliminary inquiry is requested to test the strength of the Crown's case. It provides defence counsel with a structured guide to evaluate eligibility, navigate pre-trial case management, and conduct the hearing.
Jurisdiction: This plan operates under Canadian federal criminal law and applies in provincial and superior courts of criminal jurisdiction. The forks address specific practice directions and scheduling procedures in: (1) Ontario, (2) Alberta, and (3) British Columbia.
The Process at a Glance: The process starts with a gateway assessment to verify that the offences charged carry a maximum penalty of 14 years or more, or meet historical offence exceptions. Counsel conducts a conflict check, executes the retainer, and files a designation of counsel. Counsel then conducts a Crown pre-trial and a mandatory judicial pre-trial. After satisfying case management requirements, counsel files a formal election and requests a preliminary inquiry. Counsel drafts and files a statement identifying issues and witnesses, serves subpoenas, and manages hearsay notices. Finally, counsel conducts the preliminary inquiry, cross-examines Crown witnesses, presents arguments against committal, and monitors the file for direct indictment risk.
Use this fork when conducting a preliminary inquiry in the Ontario Court of Justice (OCJ). It guides defence counsel through local case management, mandatory pre-trials, electronic scheduling, and rule-based filing.
Use this fork when representing an accused in the Alberta Court of Justice. It guides defence counsel through regional scheduling, Pre-Preliminary Inquiry Conferences, and the completion of mandatory Alberta criminal forms.
Use this fork when representing an accused in the Provincial Court of British Columbia. It guides defence counsel through the Criminal Caseflow Management Rules, pre-trial conferences, and date setting with Judicial Case Managers.
Key Legislation and Case Law: Governed by Part XVIII (Preliminary Inquiries) of the Criminal Code (Justice Laws) including sections 535 through 551. Jurisdictional boundaries are defined by the Bill C-75 amendments and the transitional exception rules established by the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Archambault, 2024 SCC 35. Case delay ceilings and defense-attributed delay are governed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and R. v. Jordan, 2016 SCC 27. The committal threshold is evaluated under the Shephard test set out in [United States of America v. Shephard, [1977] 2 S.C.R. 1067](https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1976/1976canlii8/1976canlii8.html). Case law research and filings utilize neutral citations verified on CanLII (Canadian Legal Information Institute).
* Disclaimer: We're nobody's lawyer, because we aren't lawyers. You are, so you know better than to take legal advice from an app. We also aren't accountants or dog trainers - just digital spirit guides taking zero liability for any of this. This site exists to gather the collective knowledge of practitioners like you. Verify everything and submit your feedback on the Preliminary Inquiry (Accused) matter plan to improve the playbook. THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE, it's a request for input.
This legal matter plan provides a structured workflow for Criminal Law cases, outlining the standard Litigation process. Utilize these tracking templates to manage your legal cases efficiently.
| Field | Token | Type | Required | Defined in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matter(4) | ||||
| Matter numberⓘ | matter.matterNumber | text | Required | inheritedmatter-core |
| Matter title | matter.title | text | - | inheritedmatter-core |
| Matter typeⓘ | matter.matterType | text | - | inheritedmatter-core |
| Matter status | matter.status | text | - | inheritedmatter-core |
| Client(1) | ||||
| Client name | matter.clientName | text | Required | inheritedmatter-core |
Got a question about this plan?
Ask in the practitioner Discord - edge cases, rule changes, and jurisdiction-specific nuances, all in one place.
We do not house forms for this jurisdiction yet. Where a task names a form, its link goes to the official source.