Central East Region update to civil notice. Parties must (1) file pre-trial memos through an online portal and (2) send a copy to the pre-trial email address. See para. 43 of the Region’s civil notice. 

Continued suspension of Small Claims Court operations due to COVID-19 - Updated May 31,2021.

This week’s courtroom & Crown assignments are posted on the Criminal-OCJ page here.

The E-Hearings Task Force (Members: Advocates’ Society, OBA, FOLA, OTLA) published the second edition of Best Practices for Remote Hearings today.

View it on our Best Practices page under Practice Areas here or on The Advocates’ Society website here.

The following notice from the OCJ was revised today:

Scheduling of Family Matters in the Ontario Court of Justice (May 26,

2021)

A Word version is also available:

Scheduling of Family Matters in the Ontario Court of Justice (May 26, 2021)

View FOLA’s submission to The Honourble Doug Downey, Attorney General Ministry of Attorney General, on May 25, 2021: 

FOLA Submissions on Automatic Standard Orders Relating to Financial Disclosure by the Clerk in Family Law Matters

New Appointment to the Ontario Court of Justice 

This week’s OCJ Crown & Courtroom assignments are posted on the Criminal - OCJ page under Practice Areas here.

From Legal Aid Ontario:

• “As of May 17, 2021 people who have no income or who receive Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program payments and who do not own any property can apply for legal aid online at Legal Aid Ontario’s (LAO) website. 

  How it works 

  We walk the user through several questions to figure out: 

•   if they’re eligible to apply online for legal aid 
• whether they need to follow-up with a call for more information

• 
  Added features 

  All users will now have access to:  

• get updates on a legal aid application or certificate status instead of calling. Last year, alone, we had more than 120,000 certificate applications. Now, a user can see the status of their application without needing to call. 
• upload requested information—such as financial information—instead of having to mail or fax them or drop them off at a local office. 
• update personal information like  their address, phone number and email address on their own and at their convenience. 

This new online service is one of many projects to help our clients get the help they need when they need it."

Full news release here:

https://www.legalaid.on.ca/news/need-legal-aid-now-you-can-apply-online/

Sincerely,

Norman Panzica 
York Director and Co-Chair LAO Committee, Criminal Lawyers Association 

Today the Ontario Court of Justice issued the following updates:

Update re Criminal Proceedings: resumption of out-of-custody trials and preliminary inquiries as of May 25, 2021 (published May 18, 2021)

COVID-19: Scheduling of Family Matters in the Ontario Court of Justice (May 18, 2021)

On May 17, 2021, a regulation was filed to amend court rules and forms for civil proceedings in the Superior Court of Justice: O. Reg. 343/21, amending the Rules of Civil Procedure.

The regulation amends three rules of the Rules of Civil Procedure to:

-       eliminate the 60-day delay between a party setting down a defended action for trial and the action being placed on the trial list and make consequential amendments to this rule change; and

-       revoke two obsolete provisions regarding the time for trial listing for matters outside Toronto, to reflect existing practice across the province.