Ontario's courts will see some updates over the coming years, but the one that catches the attention of everyone however, seems to be the introduction of Wi-Fi into the buildings, by 2019.

For those who frequent the courthouses, it is of no surprise to them that Ontario's courthouses are not up to date with the latest and greatest in technology, and the plan to modernize our courts to make them more "user friendly" has been welcomed with open arms.

There has been a pilot project which has been ongoing for quite some time, and now, that project has been expanded and is now offered province-wide, one of the first steps to modernize the courts. This service addresses civil matters, which allows you to file a statement of claim online.

The service will be enhanced in the middle of next year to include other documents such as statements of defence.

The current focus of the modernization of Ontario's courts has been primarily on civil and family matters, as they have had the highest volume of issues which can be streamlined by simple modifications to the processes. This has made lawyers dealing with criminal matters quite upset. After R v. Jordan, emphasis on strict timelines have been crucial for criminal cases to try and reduce the gap between when a case can be brought before the court, because at the present time in criminal cases, there have been many that have been tossed due to court delays. Criminal matters are addressed in the plan and is a big part of it, however, it will not be taken care of immediately.

The plan has addressed these areas, and will look to do more in the future. For the full list in the plan, please follow this link. With regards to civil, provincial offences, family, and criminal matters before the court, these are some important changes to come:

Civil

  • Filing of Statement of Claim, Statement of Defence online
  • Online lookup for traffic ticket charges, scheduling of meetings at participating courthouses

Family

  • Electronic filing of joint divorces (both parties are in agreement) by April 2018
  • Set up and update child support agreement without needing to attend court

Criminal

  • Expand video service – lawyers will be able to video chat with their clients that are in jail by the end of 2017
  • Cases to be supported by a digital information system to allow information sharing between Crown's attorneys and police
  • Eventually access to additional documentation through a secure online database

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