Ontario Court of Justice Update

The OCJ has announced a new pilot project in Ottawa involving Enhanced Designations of Counsel. Effective February 1, 2021, this pilot project will allow accused persons whose counsel have filed an Enhanced Designation of Counsel to have their matters adjourned to the next court date without the matter being addressed in court. For more information, please see the Practice Direction.

Chief Justice Lise Maisonneuve of the OCJ has made an Order pursuant to s. 85 of the Provincial Offences Act. This Order extends the timelines related to POA appeals under the Act until April 12, 2021. This Order also states that POA appeals to a judge of the OCJ that were scheduled between March 16, 2020 to April 9, 2021 will be adjourned. For more information, please see the Order. 

In lights of the Ontario government’s new emergency orders, the OCJ has revised the COVID-19: Scheduling of Family Law Matters at the Ontario Court of Justice. The new Scheduling of Family Law Matters directive eliminates the reference to certain appearances being presumptively in person and waives the requirement to file sworn documents, beyond unsworn affidavits of service. Electronically signed documents are acceptable for filing. 

The OCJ has revised its May 19th Notice to Counsel/Paralegals and the Public regarding Provincial Offences Act matters in the OCJ. Beginning on January 25, 2021:

The OCJ has amended its October 22nd Notice regarding the further expansion of virtual criminal case management courts. These case management courts will launch in select locations on the following dates:

On December 8, 2020, a regulation was filed to amend the Rules of Civil Procedure, O. Reg. 711-20. The regulation makes administrative amendments to align the Rules of Civil Procedure with legislative amendments that were introduced to remove the office of a traditional master. The amendments were made to the Courts of Justice Act through the Smarter and Stronger Justice Act, 2020, Schedule 5.

The Daily Court Lists website publishes the daily court lists for both the OCJ and SCJ. This website provides information about case names, as well as the time, location, and reasons for court appearances. As of December 7, 2020, two changes have been made to this website:

The OCJ announced that virtual criminal case management courts will launch in additional locations in the coming weeks:

The OCJ has issued a Message re COVID-19 regarding COVID-19 that includes encouraging judicial officials, parties and counsel to actively explore whether all, or any portion, of trials or other hearings that would otherwise be in person can be conducted using remote technology, and to be accommodating of such requests from opposing counsel or parties.

The Ministry of the Attorney General’s senior executive table (MAG MAG) recently convened to discuss the resumption of in-person operations at several ‘satellite’ court locations across the province.