A Judicial System in Crisis
Ontario's judicial system has implemented several
significant changes to adapt to COVID-19-related restrictions.
Since the court essentially closed its doors to all but the most
urgent matters in March 2020, it has been consulting with various
stakeholders to formulate a plan of action to address the
vulnerabilities in our judicial system that this crisis has
exposed.
The greatest vulnerability exposed during this pandemic is that
our system relies heavily on face-to-face contact. Before the
pandemic, most court documents were required to be filed in person
at the courthouse, and the majority of motions, applications,
pre-trials and trials required in-person appearances.
