Ontario Court of Justice continues roll-out of virtual criminal case management courts

Law360 Canada (August 20, 2020, 3:48 PM EDT) -- The Ontario Court of Justice has announced that provincewide implementation of virtual criminal case management courts will start Aug. 24, when virtual court appearances for out of custody accused will resume in Cayuga, Goderich, Guelph, Orangeville, L’Orignal, Pembroke, Saint Thomas, Simcoe, Stratford, Windsor and Woodstock. The virtual court appearances will be carried out using videoconferencing or audioconferencing.

On Aug. 31, virtual criminal case management court appearances for out of custody accused will resume in Oshawa, Thunder Bay, Timmins and Toronto East (1911 Eglinton Ave. E.).

On Aug. 10, a virtual criminal case management court pilot was launched in Ottawa and Kitchener. Provincewide implementation of virtual criminal case management courts is occurring in stages over the next several weeks.

More information about criminal proceedings in the Ontario Court of Justice, including the definition of “case management appearances,” is available in the COVID-19: Notice to Counsel and the Public re: Criminal Matters in the Ontario Court of Justice.

In addition, the Ontario Court of Justice has posted a new document that provides general information to self-represented accused persons who have criminal cases in the court during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new guide is available here: Information for Self-Represented Accused Persons with Criminal Cases in the Ontario Court of Justice.