Bill 14: Justice Statutes Amendment Act, 2025*
Bill Sponsor: Amery
Bill Type: Government Bills
Amendments: Yes
Money Bill: No
Documents Bill 14
A3- December 9, 2025
First Reading
December 4, 2025 passed 763
Second Reading
December 8, 2025 adjourned 794-801
December 9, 2025 passed on division 844-50
Committee of the Whole
December 9, 2025 adjourned 856
December 9, 2025 passed on division with amendments 880-87
Third Reading
December 10, 2025 adjourned on division 922-23
December 10, 2025 passed on division 924-31
Royal Assent
December 11, 2025 outside of House sitting
Comes into Force
December 11, 2025, with exceptions SA 2025 c22 4/27/2026 2:34 PM
⚠️Amended— Amendment A3 (agreed December 9, 2025) updated Bill 14 before passage.
Key changes: the Chief Electoral Officer now has a hard 7-day deadline to review initiative petition applications and must either reject the application with written reasons or forward it to the Minister. Cross-references throughout the initiative petition sections were also updated to reflect the revised process.
WHO GAINS POWER
- The Minister of Justice gains new authority to refer any citizen initiative petition proposal to the Court — and then terminate the entire initiative petition process based on the Court's decision
- The Minister gains veto power over citizen initiative applications by determining whether a proposal is "substantially similar" to a past failed referendum — replacing the Chief Electoral Officer in that role
- The Minister gains authority to make, amend and repeal bylaws for the Alberta Law Foundation — overriding the board
- The Minister gains authority to issue binding directives to the Alberta Law Foundation with no board approval required
- The Attorney General gains full immunity from Law Society proceedings for anything done while exercising their duties
- The Executive Director of the Law Society gains authority to unilaterally dismiss complaints deemed frivolous, vexatious or without merit — with no appeal from that decision
- The Lieutenant Governor in Council gains new regulation-making power over citizen initiative finances, expense limits and contribution rules
- Sitting MLAs, election officers and individuals with recent convictions are explicitly barred from initiating citizen petitions
WHO LOSES POWER
- Citizens lose the ability to launch a citizen initiative petition without first filing a formal notice of intent — adding a new gatekeeping step before the process even begins
- The Chief Electoral Officer loses the authority to independently assess whether a petition proposal is substantially similar to a past failed referendum — that decision now belongs to the Minister
- Citizens whose applications are in progress when the Bill comes into force have those applications deemed to have never been made — they must restart under the new rules
- The Benchers of the Law Society lose their appellate role — lawyer discipline appeals now go to the Court of King's Bench, not the Benchers
- The Court of Appeal loses jurisdiction over lawyer discipline appeals (sections 80–82 repealed)
- The Alberta Law Foundation board loses independent bylaw-making authority — all bylaws now require Minister approval
- Justices of the peace lose the Judicial Council qualification requirement for initial appointment — the Lieutenant Governor in Council can now appoint without it
WHO GAINS MONEY
- No direct financial transfers — this is primarily a governance and process Bill
- Law Society complainants gain a clearer (if narrower) appeal path through the Appeal Committee
WHO LOSES MONEY
- Citizens who paid application fees for in-progress initiative petitions that are deemed void may lose those fees — though a waiver is available if they refile within 30 days
- Lawyers facing discipline lose the Benchers appeal layer — potentially facing faster and less peer-reviewed outcomes at the Court of King's Bench
THE CATCH
- The citizen initiative changes are the most significant — the Minister now controls two critical chokepoints: whether a proposal is too similar to a past failure, and whether to terminate the process entirely after a Court referral. A Minister can effectively kill any citizen initiative without a public vote
- The "no cause of action" clause (s.71.2) means no one can sue the government, the Minister, the Chief Electoral Officer or Elections Alberta for terminating an initiative petition process — accountability is completely removed
- The Law Foundation changes give the Minister direct control over an independent legal body — including the ability to override board decisions and issue binding directives
- The Attorney General immunity clause is unusually broad — the province's top law officer cannot be disciplined by the Law Society for anything done in their official capacity
- Justice of the peace appointment reforms restructure tenure significantly — 10-year terms, renewable in 5-year blocks, with mandatory retirement at 75, but the removal of the Judicial Council qualification requirement for initial appointment weakens judicial independence at the entry point
- Political party name protection is tightened — 12 "distinctive words" (including conservative, liberal, green, wildrose) are now legally protected, preventing new parties from using them or close variations