CaseLines in Ontario is modernizing the Superior Court of Justice. The program rollout began in Summer 2020, and two years later it is being used in most hearings before the Superior Court. CaseLines is not limited to remote hearings. Parties expect to use CaseLines and refer to the “Bates Numbers” on each page when attending […]
Category Archives: Directions from the Courts
Ontario Courts will launch CaseLines, a cloud-based document-management system, beginning August 10, 2020. A two-week pilot will be for select civil motions and pre-trial conferences and will run in Toronto at the 330 University Avenue courthouse. The pilot will expand to all Toronto civil, Divisional Court, Commercial and Estate List, and bankruptcy matters on August […]
Zoom Hearings are underway at the British Columbia Court of Appeal. Today’s update on the justice system pivoting in the face of COVID-19’s “new normal” also includes a live-stream from Ontario Superior Court of Justice, and Ontario’s Divisional Court and Toronto Commercial and Estate List hearing cases via Zoom. The B.C. Court of Appeal goes […]
Effective today, COVID-19 Telephone Conference Hearings (or “TCH”s) are B.C.’s newest process for hearing Civil and Family matters in the unfolding COVID-19 situation. The new E-Hearings mean that the Supreme Court of British Columbia can expand what matters it will hear using a process that includes: the BC Courts Scheduling website, a new TCH form, […]
In December 2019, the British Columbia Supreme Court granted an application that BC’s E-Trial Practise Direction apply to a complex, multi-party commercial case, even in the face of opposition from the plaintiffs, a defendant and third party. Long Lake Hydro Limited v. Western Versatile Construction Corp began in 2015. It considers the design and construction […]
The Parties to Cowichan Tribes et al. v. Canada et al. (Victoria File No. 14 1027) filed an E-Trial Consent Order with the British Columbia Supreme Court in July, in preparation for their trial set to begin September 9, 2019. The E-Trial Consent Order builds on the orders filed at the Federal Court of Canada for Southwind and Jim Shot Both Sides in […]
At the Federal Court, the E-trial Plan for Southwind v. Canada (2017 FC 906) is filed with the court registry. When I spoke to Justice Zinn, he told me that he made sure that happened because he realized that there were no precedents for e-trials and he wanted a written record to rely on later. […]
The Supreme Court of Yukon is ahead of the curve on e-trials. Courtroom 1 is equipped with monitors at all desks to allow the judge, clerk and counsel to view documents in large or complicated civil cases. During trial, the court clerk calls up documents from a Court Services Computer and all parties can view […]
The Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta published Civil Practice Note No. 4 in 2007, and updated it in March 2011. It is almost exactly the same wording and template as the 2008 National Model Practise Direction and the 2006 Practise Direction in the British Columbia Supreme Court on using technology in civil litigation. Alberta’s […]
The Canadian Judicial Council posted a National Model Practise Direction for the Use of Technology in Civil Litigation in 2008. It has exactly the same words and template as BC’s Practise Direction (2006) and Alberta’s Practise Direction (first published in 2007, updated in 2011). Indeed, the press release that accompanied the National Model Practise Direction […]
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