Newmarket OCJ To Hear Non Urgent Matters
Local Administrative Justice Ghosh has released a new protocol to address the scheduling and hearing of non urgent, out of custody matters, beginning on May 19. 2020. This new protocol is designed to implement the recent direction from Chief Justice Maisonneuve's of May 9, 2020 addressing the hearing of non urgent matters.
As per Justice Ghosh, eligible matters will be those cases with counsel that can be resolved through withdrawals, diversions, peace bonds, stay of proceedings, pleas or sentencings that are expected to consume approximately 30 minutes of court time or less.
Hearings can be scheduled by contacting the Newmarket Crown Attorney's Office. In particular, please contact Sean Doyle (Sean.Doyle@ontario.ca) or David Moull (David.Moull@ontario.ca). The Crown will then arrange with the Assistant Trial Coordinators (Newmarket.OCJ.Criminal.TrialCoordinator@ontario.ca) to have the matter brought forward to an agreeable date. If difficulties arise with respect to scheduling, they will be brought to the attention of the Local Administrative Justice.
Hearings will proceed with only remote attendance by counsel and affected parties. Given the limitations of audio conferencing and the much higher demands it places on court staff, it will only be possible to schedule a small number of matters each day. As a result, these plea slots will be very valuable and it will be imperative that matters proceed as scheduled.
To ensure the effective operation of the court, any materials to be brought to the presiding justice's attention are to be emailed to the Assistant Trial Co-Ordinators at least two days prior to the hearing with the subject line clearly indicating the client, the time slot assigned and the courtroom.
Matters with prior JPT Positions
A plea can be scheduled with a jurist who has previously judicially pretried a matter. Jurists have agreed to generally support positions taken by other jurists during the public health crisis. If the hearing jurist disagrees with the position of the pretrial jurist, then the plea can be struck and the matter will then be remanded to the pretrial jurist.
Sincerely, Norman Panzica, York Director, Criminal Lawyers Association
NOTICE TO THE PROFESSION PROTOCOL FOR CIVIL MATTERS IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE, CENTRAL EAST REGION - Effective May 19, 2020
NOTICE TO THE PROFESSION PROTOCOL FOR CRIMINAL MATTERS IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE, CENTRAL EAST REGION - Effective May 19, 2020
NOTICE TO THE PROFESSION AND FAMILY LAW LITIGANTS PROTOCOL FOR FAMILY AND CHILD PROTECTION MATTERS IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF JUSTICE, CENTRAL EAST REGION - Effective May 19, 2020
Please find attached, a copy of this week’s COVID-19 Update. It can also be found here.
Katie W. Robinette, Executive Director, FOLA.ca
Need answers to COVID-19 issues regarding the practice of law? CLICK HERE.
Kristin Muszynski, on behalf of FOLA, has been working on the e-Task force with the Advocates’ Society, the Ontario Bar Association, and the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association to review technologies that can help ensure Ontario’s justice system continue to function during and following the coronavirus pandemic. One of the issues they looked at were e-Hearings.
Today, they released some helpful documents on best practices to help provide guidance to anyone who is considering preparing for and participating in a remote hearing. Those documents are available on our website here and are also attached.
Katie W. Robinette
Executive Director
FOLA.ca
This is my Newmarket OCJ update for May 9, 2020.
OCJ To Expand Hearing Of Criminal Matters
The Ontario Court of Justice announced on May 4, 2020 that it will not be returning to full operations on May 29, 2020 and in addition, that no trials or preliminary inquiries would be conducted until at least July 6, 2020 at the earliest.
The Ontario Court of Justice has now announced a "limited expansion" effective this Monday May 11, 2020 of the hearing of out of custody criminal matters. The goal is to accommodate resolutions of for out of custody matters where the Regional Senior Judge is satisfied that the necessary courthouse resources are in place.
The OCJ is also making judicial pre-trials mandatory for all criminal proceedings, including YCJA matters, i) that were scheduled for trial or preliminary hearing between March 16, 2020 and July 3, 2020 that was, or will be, adjourned due to the pandemic; and ii) that are scheduled for a trial or preliminary inquiry between July 6, 2020 and October 30, 2020.
It is anticipated that the Court will be posting the updated COVID-19 Notice to Counsel and the Public shortly consolidating previous directives and providing important updates to the Court’s criminal operations.
Accompanying the updated Notice are two related protocols, one concerning the conduct of bail hearings, and the other for consent variations to bails and undertakings.
I have forwarded the Notice that I have received to Betty and Janet in order that it can be posted to the YRLA website. It can be found on the website under Court Info/Forms > Criminal. I will send any further updates as they become available.
Sincerely,
Norman Panzica, York Director, Criminal Lawyers Association
The attached notice, issued by Chief Justice Maisonneuve, updates the Directive on the Scheduling of Family Matters in the Ontario Court of Justice that was issued on March 28, 2020, and is in addition to the general notice issued by the Ontario Court of Justice on May 4, 2020.
Please share with your Family Law members.
Further Adjourning Criminal Matters
Notice to the Profession, Litigants, Accused Persons and the Media Regarding the Continued Suspension of in-court matters to July 6, 2020
From the Ministry of the Attorney General, Court Services Division:
Notice to the Public and Legal Profession Ontario Small Claims Court Counter Service Suspension
York Region Law Association 50 Eagle St W, 3rd Floor Newmarket ON L3Y 6B1 905-895-2018 / 1-866-221-8864