St. Catharines and Welland – Notice Regarding Adjourned Child Protection and Family Matters

Issued June 26, 2020

Please be advised that the Superior Court of Justice (Family Branch) will be conducting Virtual Assignment Courts, by way of Zoom, audio only.

The purpose of the Assignment Courts will be to reschedule all matters that were adjourned during the suspension of Court operations (March 17, 2020 to July 3, 2020)

CHILD PROTECTION

Rescheduling of Adjourned Conferences, Motions and Trials

  1. IN ORDER TO AVOID HAVING TO ATTEND AT A RESCHEDULING COURT Counsel and opposing parties must agree on their availability and then contact the trial coordinator (st.catharines.superior.court@ontario.ca or welland.superior.court@ontario.ca) and advise of the following:
    1. In the RE: line – Court File No. and Names of Parties
    2. Event being rescheduled (Conference, Motion, Trial)
    3. If prepared to proceed in August, September or October 2020 – any dates that you would NOT be available.
  2. If agreed upon availability has NOT been communicated to the Trial Coordinator by July 2, 2020 at 3:00 p.m., a date and time will be assigned during Virtual Assignment Courts to be held July 6 to July 9, 2020 by Zoom.
  3. In an effort to assist counsel who are required to appear in two different Court locations, the virtual assignment courts on July 6, July 7 and July 8, 2020 will commence at 10:00 am in the St. Catharines court and will commence at 1:30 p.m. in the Welland court.Please note that due to the large volume of cases scheduled for July 9, the virtual assignment courts on that date will commence at 10:00 a.m. in both St. Catharines and Welland courts.
  1. All appearances will take place on Zoom, by audio only. Appearances will be staggered at 10- minute intervals. Counsel will be provided with the call-in information for their appearances in advance of the assignment courts as set out below.
  2. Trial Coordination will be preparing one list setting out the date and time of each matter, as well as call-in information, which will be sent to the CAS and all respondents’ counsel. This will be circulated in advance of the assignment courts.
  3. The CAS must advise self-represented respondents of the date, time, and call-in information for each matter where there are any self-represented parties.
  4. There must be one CAS counsel only per virtual assignment courtroom each day.
  5. Where all parties are represented, counsel are encouraged to arrange for CAS counsel to be agent on the scheduling appearance. In that event, counsel must provide CAS counsel with their availability in advance.
  6. Where parties are represented and respondents’ counsel will be attending the virtual assignment court, they may attend without clients, however they must have their clients’ availability at hand.
  7. These are scheduling appearances onlyand therefore no materials are required to be filed.

FAMILY

Rescheduling of Adjourned Conferences, Motions, and Trials

  1. IN ORDER TO AVOID HAVING TO ATTEND AT A RESCHEDULING COURT Counsel and opposing parties must agree on their availability and then contact the trial coordinator (st.catharines.superior.court@ontario.ca or welland.superior.court@ontario.ca) and advise of the following:
    1. In the RE: line – Court File No. and Names of Parties
    2. Event being rescheduled (Conference, Motion, Trial)
    3. If prepared to proceed in August, September or October 2020 – any dates that you would NOT be available.
    4. If not prepared to proceed at this time, an agreed upon Assignment Court date in August, September or October 2020. (Any Thursday at 2:30 p.m. in St. Catharines; Any Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. in Welland)
  2. If agreed upon availability has NOT been communicated to the Trial Coordinator by July 8, 2020 at 3:00 p.m., attendance via Zoom will be required at a date and time to be assigned during Virtual Assignment Courts to be held July 14 to July 17, 2020, with appearances at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
  3. Given the extremely high volume of matters to be dealt with, there will be multiple virtual assignment courts running at each court site and taking place at the same time. Appearances will commence at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. in both St. Catharines and Welland.
  4. On July 10, 2020, by 5:00 pm, dockets of all cases placed on the Virtual Assignment Courts will be circulated through the website for the Lincoln County Law Association and the Welland County Law Association. Matters will be numbered (eg. 1 – 50) and will appear on one of multiple Assignment Court Lists. The dockets will confirm the court file no.; names of parties; your number on the list; virtual courtroom number and what time (eg. 10:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m.) that you will be required to call in on Zoom. In addition, on July 10, 2020, counsel will be advised of the Zoom call-in information for each of the virtual assignment courts.
  5. Counsel must review the lists to determine the dates and times that their matters have been scheduled on. If there are any conflicts, you must arrange for an agent to attend on your behalf with your available dates and those of your client’s.
  6. It is the expectation of the court that counsel will advise any self-represented party of the contents of this notice to ensure that all parties are available at the virtual assignment courts. Counsel should also advise any self-represented party of the date and time of the virtual assignment court and the Zoom call-in details.
  7. While waiting to have matters called at the Virtual Assignment Courts, Counsel are expected to have canvassed dates with the other counsel/party in advance of their matter being called. These are extremely heavy dockets and the Court requires the assistance and cooperation of all counsel to ensure that all matters are reached.
  8. Where parties are represented, only counsel should attend. The clients do not need to attend. These are scheduling appearances only. Counsel must attend with full knowledge of their clients’ respective availability for the next appearance, which must be factored into any dates provided to opposing counsel if agent-arrangements are being utilized.

Rescheduling of Adjourned Family Trials

  1. All adjourned family trials are also to be spoken to in accordance with the process set out above and will be addressed during the virtual assignment courts.
  2. For all adjourned Welland family law trials counsel must agree with the opposing party as to the trial sittings requested over the next 12 months starting with the sittings scheduled for November 23, 2020 and advise the Welland TC in advance of the Re-scheduling Court of their request, and then they need not attend. The record will be endorsed with the new trial date.
  3. For all adjourned Catharines family law trials counsel must agree with the opposing party as to the trial sittings requested commencing in 2021 and advise the St. Catharines TC in advance of the Re-scheduling Court of their request, and then they need not attend. The record will be endorsed with the new trial date.

Scheduling of New Conferences and Motions

  1. Counsel are to follow the process set out in the regional Notice dated June 26, 2020 and Protocol dated April 7, 2020. That Protocol is hyperlinked here: https://www.ontariocourts.ca/scj/notices-and-orders-covid-19/cs-family-child-protection/

Continued Application of Regional Notices and Protocol

  1. The following directions continue to apply:
    1. The Protocol dated April 7, 2020 continues to apply with respect to the materials to be filed for specific types of appearance. That Protocol is hyperlinked here: https://www.ontariocourts.ca/scj/notices-and-orders-covid-19/cs-family-child-protection/