Certain court operations have been suspended or limited during the COVID-19 pandemic. While certain aspects of litigation matters continue to be pursued during this time, the availability of court hearings is limited. This article provides an overview of court services that are available for civil and “Commercial List” matters and appeals as of the date of publication of this article.
Ontario Superior Court of Justice
Effective March 17, 2020, and until further notice, all “regular” operations of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (the “Court”) have been suspended. Generally, this means that in-person hearings for motions, applications and other appearances are not being held. There are exceptions for certain types of matters, such as family and criminal law matters. All civil matters (e.g., construction, employment and contract disputes), including all telephone and video conference appearances, scheduled to be heard on or after March 17, 2020 have been suspended until further notice. These matters will be rescheduled to future date. For commercial matters on the Toronto Superior Court of Justice’s specialized “Commercial List”, all regular, non-urgent matters have been suspended and will be rescheduled to a future date.
During the suspension of “regular” operations, Court will conduct hearings in urgent civil and Commercial List matters that meet one of the following criteria:
- urgent and time-sensitive motions and applications in civil and Commercial List matters, where immediate and significant financial repercussions may result if there is no judicial hearing;
- outstanding warrants issued in relation to a Small Claims Court or Superior Court of Justice civil proceeding; and
- any other matters that the Court deems necessary and appropriate to hear on an urgent basis.
It should also be borne in mind that there are local rules and practices that may apply. For example, different local rules and practices may apply in Brampton versus St. Catharines. Subject to local rules and practices, the Court will hold remote hearings in most court locations for the following non-urgent civil matters:
- Pre-Trial Conferences that were cancelled during the period from March 16 to May 21, 2020 due to the suspension of “regular” operations may be rescheduled at the request of the parties;
- Rule 7 Litigation Guardian motions or applications for approval of settlement, in writing; and
- Motions that are to be considered in writing and the parties agree to the requested relief.
The Court plans to establish a Return to Operations (RO) Scheduling Court where litigants will be able to reschedule suspended matters. We will provide an update on this plan once details are released.
Litigants may still file materials for regular, non-urgent matters. Of course, these matters will not be scheduled for a hearing until “regular” operations resume.
Divisional Court
The Divisional Court is one branch of the Court. Urgent matters continue to be heard by the Divisional Court. Effective April 6, 2020, additional non-urgent matters will be scheduled for remote hearings via telephone or video conference or heard in writing.
Ontario Court of Appeal
Urgent appeals will be heard based on the written materials already filed or remotely. Parties who wish to have their matter heard on an urgent basis may contact the Court of Appeal and request a hearing. The request should indicate:
- why the matter is urgent;
- whether all parties consent to the hearing of the appeal on an urgent basis; and
- whether the parties consent to having the decision rendered based on the written materials already filed or whether they want a remote hearing.
Non-urgent matters may be heard based on written materials that are already filed with the Court of Appeal. All parties must consent to have the matter heard in writing.
Single judge motions will continue to be heard remotely until further notice. Alternatively, on the consent of all the parties, a motion may proceed based on the written materials already filed with the Court of Appeal.
Public counter services are closed for filing materials until further notice. However, there are alternative options for filing available.
Janine Abuluyan is the 2019/2020 Articling Student at Goldman Sloan Nash & Haber LLP.
The information contained herein is for the general information of the reader and is not intended as legal advice or opinion. Please contact a member of the GSNH Construction Law Group for further clarification and advice.