As many are aware, the Superior Court of Justice has essentially shut down operations, subject to certain narrow exceptions, in light of COVID-19.
On May 13, 2020, a Consolidated Notice to the Profession, Litigants, Accused Persons, Public and Media was published regarding “Expanded Operations of Ontario Superior Court of Justice, effective May 19, 2020”. The Notice can be read in its entirety here. Below, I discuss some of the highlights relevant to the estates list.
- The Notice specifically denotes that the Superior Court of Justice has not closed and that it continues to expand its operations virtually – in writing, or by telephone or video conference hearings. It is further highlighted, that during the suspension of regular in-court operations, lawyers and parties are expected to actively move cases forward.
- Although the requirement to gown for a Superior Court of Justice appearance is suspended, parties participating in video conferences are expected to dress in appropriate business attire and should have an appropriate technical set-up and observe etiquette appropriate to the nature of remote hearings. In fact, some guidance from the Superior Court of Justice on the issue of technical set-up can be found here.
- On the issue of filings, the Notice indicates that factums should be hyperlinked to relevant cases (instead of filing a Brief of Authorities) and there is a very specific format of the email that is to be sent to the Court to request dates or file materials. Importantly, the size of emails has been expanded to 35MB, however, it is also noted to limit filed materials to only those necessary for the hearing (in addition to the restrictions related to the length of material, already in place).
- Although materials are being filed electronically, given the pandemic and the need to isolate, the Superior Court of Justice expects that all materials filed electronically be later filed in hard copy with the Court and the requisite filing fee be paid. That means, that it is important to keep track of all materials filed electronically, as there is a positive obligation to deliver hard copies and payment for the filing, at a later time.
- Service via email is permitted such that it is not necessary to obtain consent or a court order to serve a document by email where email service is permitted.
- Whereas, urgent matters continue being heard (subject to the Superior Court of Justice’s discretion to decline to schedule for immediate hearing any particular matter listed in the Notice), the following Toronto Commercial and Estate List matters are being heard (the Notice to Profession – Toronto, can be found here):
- Select motions;
- Select applications;
- Case management conferences;
- Pre-trial conferences; and
- Judicial settlement conferences.
Reviewing this Notice shows that court services are expanding. Certainly, one positive effect of the pandemic has been the overall embrace of various technologies by the Superior Court of Justice, that had not been in place before.
Here is to hoping that the restrictions associated with COVID-19 are soon lifted and the pandemic blows over. At the same time, I am certainly excited to see whether we will see a significant change in court operations moving forward, as a result of this involuntary technological leap forward.
Thanks for reading!
Find this blog interesting? Please consider these other related posts:
TALK 2 NICE: Support for the Elderly During COVID-19
A Further Update on the Estate Arbitration and Litigation Management (EALM) Initiative