Ontario Court of Justice - Toronto Region

On August 24, the OCJ published the Guidelines for Conducting Remote Hearings in the Ontario Court of Justice as well as a User Guide for remote hearings conducted by Zoom, and a Manual and Troubleshooting Tips Sheet for remote hearings conducted on the Justice Video Network WebRTC platform.

The OCJ has issued a Notice outlining the process for upcoming virtual criminal case management appearances. The Notice also includes courthouse-specific scheduling and connection information.

The OCJ has issued a new Notice regarding the scheduling of family matters, effective September 2, 2020. This Notice supersedes all previously announces notices. All limitation and procedural time periods that were previously suspended pursuant to O. Reg. 73/20 will resume running on Monday, September 14, 2020.

The OCJ has published a guide including general information for self-represented accused persons who have criminal cases in the OCJ during the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, see here.

On Monday August 17, 2020, the Court will begin scheduling out-of-custody cases adjourned due to COVID-19 in all court locations.  In addition, the Court has revised the Trial / Preliminary Inquiry Scheduling Form that is used to schedule hearings.  For more information, see Update regarding the Scheduling of Criminal Trials and Preliminary Inquiries

The OCJ has issued a new Notice to the Legal Profession and the Public regarding the process for electronically submitting documents for family and criminal matters at the OCJ. Persons that are unable to file documents electronically are encourage to contact their local OCJ courthouse by telephone or email to hear about alternative filing options.

The OCJ has released a new Notice to the Profession and the Public detailing when criminal trials and preliminary hearings will resume at select OCJ locations. These matters will resume on August 17, 2020 in College Park, Timmins, and Peterborough, and on August 24, 2020 in Burlington. 

On August 5, 2020, the Justice Services Online platform will expand, allowing the online submission of nearly 400 more types of civil and family law court documents. The new services, “Civil Submissions Online” and “Family Submissions Online,” will allow for the electronic submission of court documents at every step in a case for new or existing:

One July 28, the OCJ issued a Notice to the Profession and the Public related to criminal case management. Given health and safety restrictions, in=person attendances for criminal court case management appearances cannot be accommodated at this time.

The Ontario Court of Justice posted A Guide for Self-represented Family Litigants During COVID-19, which provides resources and guidance to litigants.