The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing Canada’s court system to operate as it never has before to adapt to the demands of physical distancing.
The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing Canada’s court system to operate as it never has before to adapt to the demands of physical distancing.
Paperwork is being replaced by electronic documents. Appearances are taking place over the phone or through video conferencing. Judges, lawyers and staff are trying to limit their time in the courthouse by working remotely from their offices or homes.
Chief Justice David Jenkins of the Prince Edward Island Court of Appeal said it’s a learning experience.
“Nothing’s really normal right now,” Jenkins said. “Hopefully, the learning experience will produce longer term benefits and the ability to use technology in the courts.”
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In most Canadian courtrooms, accused individuals typically appear in person and documents are filed on paper, not electronically. Many fear that the bottleneck being created by pandemic-driven postponements and cancellations will have a cascade effect on an already overburdened system, leaving lawyers and judges with an unworkable quagmire once courthouses themselves return to full service.
There is one silver lining, however: a justice system that has resisted the adoption of new technologies is now being forced to modernize. The result could be more efficient and streamlined operations once the pandemic emergency passes.
“Because of years of inaction and institutional reluctance to [modernize], the justice system is playing catch-up right now,” said Michael Spratt, a criminal defence lawyer based out of Ottawa.
“We’re really all scrambling to try to accommodate the flow through the justice system using technology that is decades out of date.”
Only urgent and emergency matters being heard
In a 2019 report, Ontario’s auditor general found the province’s court system was still heavily paper-based and had done little to modernize since the turn of the century.
“There just really hasn’t been political will to devote the resources to that,” Spratt said. “There’s been lots of institutional resistance.”
Provinces and territories are responsible for the administration of justice and their own court systems. So far, Justice Canada has not received any requests from the provinces or territories for additional support to help the courts adapt to pandemic measures, said a department spokesperson.
Courts across the country have reduced their services to hearings on urgent and emergency matters — measures made necessary by physical distancing rules imposed by health authorities to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The definition of an “urgent” court matter is somewhat subjective, said Jenkins, adding it could range anywhere from a child welfare case or a bail hearing to a civil matter involving an injunction against a landlord l