Case Center

Case Center for Domestic Family Matters in the Ontario Court of Justice

Information
Last updated: July 01, 2024

1. Introduction to Case Center

What is Case Center?

Case Center is a user-friendly, cloud-based document sharing and e-hearing platform for both in-person and virtual court appearances developed by Thomson Reuters. Parties will be able to upload, store, review, search, mark-up, share and present court documents virtually.

The benefits of Case Center include:

  • It is easy to use and minimal training is needed;
  • Materials of nearly any format can be uploaded and easily organized;
  • Any device will work with Case Center (computer, tablet, smart phone); and
  • Users can make private notes and highlight documents

Currently, there is no fee to use Case Center.

Note that Case Center uses different terminology including events (otherwise known as hearings or appearances) and bundles (folders). This Notice uses the Case Center terms.

Availability

Case Center has been implemented in 30 court locations across the 5 regions where the Ontario Court of Justice hears family law matters. Case Center will be used for most all Children’s Law Reform Act (CLRA) and Family Law Act (FLA) cases. Case Center is not currently being used in any proceeding under the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017. You will know if your family law hearing will be using Case Center if you receive an email from Case Center inviting you to register and upload your filed court documents. Section 2 sets out what family events use Case Center. Case Center is not used for every event. Sections 3 and 4 set out what the events that do not use Case Center.

Filing and uploading your documents:

Case Center does not replace the filing of your documents with the court office. Therefore, you must file your documents in accordance with the  Scheduling of Family Matters at the Ontario Court of Justice notice AND upload your filed document into Case Center. This is mandatory. If you do not file your documents with the court and upload them into Case Center, the court may not have the documents that you will be relying on in court. This may result in your case not proceeding.

IMPORTANT: Parties are required to upload court documents that have been filed with the Court to Case Center at least 5 days in advance of the hearing, or at the same time as any filing deadlines that are less than 5 days, unless directed otherwise by the Court.

If you use the ministry’s Justice Services Online (JSO) document filing platform, you must upload copies of the electronically filed documents into Case Center. When you file your documents using JSO, court staff will review and either accept or reject your documents for filing.

Do NOT upload documents into Case Center that have not been filed with the court, unless otherwise ordered by a judge.

Family law documents must be filed with the court in accordance with the Family Law Rules and any local Notices to the Profession or court order.

Uploading documents into the correct bundle:

Parties or their counsel must ensure that all documents have been uploaded into Case Center according to whether the party is the Applicant, Respondent or another party (e.g. a third party including any agency such as the Office of the Children’s Lawyer or Ontario Works). Parties must also upload Affidavits of Service so they can be accessed at upcoming events.

Parties/counsel must ensure that all pleadings have been uploaded into the Pleadings sub-bundle in Case Center. Pleadings include documents such as:

  • Form 8: Application (general)
  • Form 10: Answer
  • Form 15: Motion to Change
  • Form 15B: Response to Motion to Change

Any additional documents such as Form 13: Financial Statements and parenting affidavits (i.e. Form 35.1 and/or 35.1A) as per the Family Law Rules and applicable legislation must also be uploaded into the Pleadings sub-bundle.

Naming Protocol:

Parties / counsel are responsible for properly naming the document in accordance with the naming protocol before filing the document with the court or uploading the document to Case Center.

The document naming protocol is as follows:

  1. Document type, including the form number (For example, Application, Form 8),
  2. Type of party submitting the document (For example, Applicant, Respondent or Third Party)
  3. Name of the party submitting the document, including initials if the name is not unique to the case (For example: P. Smith and B. Smith – initials must be used if the parties share a last name; Smith and Thomas – initials are not required if the parties do not share a last name), and
  4. Date on which the document was created or signed, in the format DD-MMM-YYYY (For example: 12-JAN-2021).

Below are sample document names:

Application Form 8 – Applicant – P. Smith – 12-JAN-2021

Notice of Motion Form 14 – Respondent – J. Brown – 21-DEC-2021

Affidavit General Form 14A – OCL – 01-JUL-2021

Document names shall not include firm-specific naming conventions or court file numbers.

Abbreviations may only be used as follows:

APP for Applicant
RESP for Respondent
O for Other

For institutional litigants:

CAS for Children’s Aid Societies
FRO for Family Responsibility Office
OCL for Office of the Children’s Lawyer

NOTE: If documents are not named according to the above naming protocol, the judge may decide to review only those documents that comply with the protocol and may decide to reschedule your hearing to another day.

Other important information:

Parties Email Addresses:

Parties and/or counsel must provide their email addresses on all filed and uploaded court documents to use Case Center.

Publication Bans/Sealing Orders and Other Documents that should not be filed:

Any documents that are subject to a publication ban or sealing order must not be uploaded into Case Center. However, a notice of motion for the sealing order should be uploaded into Case Center.

The document that you propose to be sealed must be emailed to the court office or filed in-person, identifying the case name, court file number, hearing date and a request that the documents be forwarded to the judge who will determine whether a sealing order should be made. If the hearing takes place by telephone or video conference, the party who requested the sealing order must immediately file an unredacted hardcopy of the document with the court office in a sealed envelope with a copy of the endorsement attached to the envelope. Court staff will ensure that the sealed document is filed in the physical court record.

Similarly, any supporting evidence for a motion to remove a lawyer from record pursuant to Family Law Rule 4(14) should not be uploaded into Case Center. Instead, it should be emailed to the court office while the motion itself (FLR 4(13)) must be served and filed through JSO, or, in-person.

Judicial Direction:

Court staff, parties and counsel must follow any specific judicial direction if a judicial official has determined that Case Center should not be used in a particular case or if certain documents should not be uploaded.

Upload prior endorsements and orders:

Parties or their counsel must upload all previous endorsements and orders in the case in the Endorsements, Orders and Judgments sub-bundle in Case Center so they can be accessed by the judiciary at future hearings. This includes previous endorsements and orders that were issued prior to the case’s use of Case Center.

Parties / counsel are responsible for properly naming the Order or Endorsement in accordance with the above naming protocol, before uploading the document to Case Center.

Release of a court order or endorsement:

If an event is heard using Case Center, court staff will upload endorsements and issued orders for access by parties and counsel by uploading them into the Endorsements, Orders and Judgments sub-bundle, subject to any judicial direction.

2. Domestic family events included in Case Center:

Case Center will be used for the following Family Law Act and Children’s Law Reform Act cases, subject to judical direction:

  • Case, Settlement, Combined and Trial Management Conferences
  • Motion with notice, including
    • Motion to set aside part or all of a temporary or final order
    • Motion for contempt
    • Motion to change an order due to fraud, mistake or lack of notice
    • Motion to strike a document, or, set of documents
    • Motion for summary judgment
    • Motion for lawyer’s removal from the case (*motion only, no supporting documents unless you “restrict” the supporting affidavit during the document uploading process which will then make it accessible to the judge only through the Master Bundle)
  • Trial, including
    • Rule 2 / Focused Hearing

First Appearance Court

Case Center will be used for a first court date before a judge or a clerk for any family law case started under Rule 8 or Rule 15 of the Family Law Rules provided that the responding party has filed materials at least 5 business days in advance of the scheduled court date.

IMPORTANT: Parties or their counsel must upload their filed documents in the Pleadings sub-bundle, ensuring that the documents have been named in accordance with the protocol found in this notice.

NOTE: Subject to the presiding judicial official, Case Center may be used for any continuing conference or motion that is in-scope.

3. Domestic family events excluded in Case Center:

At this time, Case Center will not be used for the following domestic (FLA or CLRA) family events:

  • Urgent or without notice motions (e.g. a motion to be heard within 4 days of the filing of the motion with the Court; a motion that has not been served on the opposing party(ies)
  • 15C or 15D Consent Motion to Change
  • Procedural, uncomplicated or unopposed matters (i.e. 14B Motion Form)
  • Any hearing under section 46 of the CLRA (Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction)

4. Non-domestic family events excluded in Case Center:

  • All Child, Youth, and Family Services Act, 2017 (CYFSA) hearings (including adoptions proceedings). CYFSA cases will not be included in Case Center at this time;
  • Uncontested trials;
  • An unopposed motion for a final order (in relation to a Motion to Change proceeding);
  • Any hearing under the Interjurisdictional Support Orders Act, 2002
  • Any hearing under either section 37 or 37.1 of the Family Law Rules
  • Any support enforcement hearing commenced by a payor, recipient or the Family Responsibility Office regarding garnishments, writs of seizure and sale, default hearing, warrant for committal and motions to refrain the suspension of a payor’s driver’s license;
  • Any cases that a judge has determined should not use Case Center.

5. Case Center process

  1. Register for Case Center at https://ontariocourts.casecenter.thomsonreuters.com/.
  2. Google Chrome or MS Edge can be used for Case Center.
    Note that the Internet Explorer browser does not support Case Center.
  3. On or before your court date, a judge or a court clerk may schedule a hearing that will use Case Center in accordance with this Notice, or, in accordance with the direction given by the presiding judge.
  4. Court staff will create a case in Case Center and send an invitation to the parties or counsel, if the parties are represented, by email.
  5. Parties or counsel will file their documents with the court either through the JSO filing platform, email or in-person. See note below regarding filing documents by email. Also, note that page limits stipulated by local court directions or by court order must be followed.
    IMPORTANT:  As previously stated, court documents must continue to be filed with the court before they are uploaded into Case Center in accordance with the applicable rules and Notices to the Profession.
  6. Court staff will review the documents that have been submitted for filing with the court to ensure that they are in accordance with the Family Law Rules and local court practices or orders of the court. Your documents are not filed until they have been reviewed and accepted by court staff.
  7. Parties/counsel must upload documents into the appropriate event bundle (e.g. Case Conference, Motion on Notice, Trial, etc.) after the documents have been accepted for filing with the court office.
  8. The hearing will be held and parties, counsel and the judge may review all of the documents that have been uploaded in the appropriate bundles.

6. Case Center resources:

Resources to assist you to familiarize yourself with Case Center are available 24/7 and are accessible without having to register with Case Center.

Useful resources

Ontario Court of Justice

This website is maintained by the Office of the Chief Justice.

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