How Well Do You Know the Organization of Courts in Ontario?

Organization of Courts in Ontario

• The Court of Justice Act (CJA) in Ontario is divided into eight parts, focusing on the Court of Appeal of Ontario and the Court of Ontario.
• The administration and management of the court system is divided into eight regions, each with a designated senior judge responsible for administering the judiciary within that region.
• The official languages of the courts in Ontario are English and French, with provisions for bilingual proceedings and juries in specified geographic areas.
• The Court of Ontario consists of two divisions: the Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Court of Justice, with the former having both civil and criminal jurisdiction.
• The Small Claims Court is a branch of the Superior Court of Justice, providing a less formal way of litigating disputes with a monetary limit of $35,000.
• Paralegals are allowed to appear before the Small Claims Court, but not before the Superior Court of Justice, except for the Small Claims Court.
• The Divisional Court is a branch of the Superior Court of Justice, exercising appellate jurisdiction and original jurisdiction in applications for judicial review of administrative actions.
• Every proceeding in the Superior Court is heard and determined by one judge, and the Superior Court also has some jurisdiction in appeals.
• The Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice is responsible for assigning judges to the Small Claims Court, and every judge of the Superior Court of Justice is also a judge of the Small Claims Court.
• Deputy judges may also be appointed to hear and determine proceedings in the Small Claims Court, and clerks, registrars, and other administrative officials are appointed under Part III of the Public Service of Ontario Act, 2006.
• The Small Claims Court has a statutory mandate to “hear and determine in a summary way all questions of law and fact” and “may make such order as is considered just and agreeable to good conscience.”
• The Rules of the Small Claims Court govern the procedure of the court, and s. 27 relaxes the rules of evidence and empowers the court to admit any oral testimony and any document or other thing, so long as the evidence is relevant to the subject matter of the proceeding.