Where criminal cases are heard in Alberta
Every criminal court appearance in Alberta starts in the Alberta Court of Justice, which handles the vast majority of criminal and regulatory offences in the province.
The Court of King's Bench of Alberta is the province's superior trial court. It hears trials in civil and criminal matters.
The Public Prosecution Service of Canada prosecutes drug offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in Alberta, as it does in most provinces.
Legal aid and duty counsel
Legal Aid Alberta may be able to help with an adult criminal charge when the person is likely to receive a jail sentence or faces deportation consequences. Applications can be made by phone at 1-866-845-3425, Monday to Friday from 8:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.
People without a lawyer can contact duty counsel in person at any Alberta courthouse, on or before their court date.
Legal Aid Alberta: adult criminal law
Check that a lawyer is licensed
The Law Society of Alberta regulates lawyers in the province. Its online Lawyer Directory helps Albertans find a lawyer and verify that the lawyer is in good standing.
Law Society of Alberta: find a lawyer
The same Criminal Code across Canada
Criminal law is federal. The Constitution Act, 1867 gives Parliament the criminal law and the procedure in criminal matters, so a Criminal Code charge in Alberta is the same offence it would be anywhere in Canada, and the charge guides on this site apply here too. The administration of justice, including the organization of the criminal courts, belongs to the province.
Everyone who is arrested or detained has the right under the Charter to retain and instruct a lawyer without delay, and to be told of that right. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Charge guides
Other provinces and territories
- Ontario1,206 criminal lawyers in 51 cities
- QuebecCourts, legal aid and licence checks
- British ColumbiaCourts, legal aid and licence checks
- ManitobaCourts, legal aid and licence checks
- SaskatchewanCourts, legal aid and licence checks
- Nova ScotiaCourts, legal aid and licence checks
- New BrunswickCourts, legal aid and licence checks
- Newfoundland and LabradorCourts, legal aid and licence checks
- Prince Edward IslandCourts, legal aid and licence checks
- Northwest TerritoriesCourts, legal aid and licence checks
- YukonCourts, legal aid and licence checks
- NunavutCourts, legal aid and licence checks