Power outage at Edmonton Law Courts sees cases adjourned, moved

The Edmonton Law Courts have experienced major disruptions this week after its south tower lost power on Tuesday.

Power to the Court of King's Bench and Court of Appeal was lost at 2:45 p.m. All non-emergency lighting remained without power as of Wednesday afternoon, the province told CTV News.

A number of cases have been adjourned or moved as a result. That includes the conviction appeal for Bradley Barton, the Ontario truck driver convicted of manslaughter in the death of Cindy Gladue.

The outage is under investigation.

"We have been advised that until the cause of the power outage is understood, the time required for repairs will remain unclear," the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta told CTV News in a statement.

"While we are hoping for a quick resolution, we are preparing for a disruption to our hearings in Edmonton that could last at least through Friday of this week."

Criminal trials and bail review matters proceeded in the north tower on Wednesday, a spokesperson added. Court of King's Bench and Provincial Courts are working together to reschedule urgent matters to other courtrooms this week.