Lawyers familiar with the Commercial List in Toronto will be interested in the following announcement from MAG regarding the Digital Hearing Workspace Proof of Concept:
“The Ministry of the Attorney General (MAG) thanks Superior Court of Justice Commercial List users for their interest and participation in the Digital Hearing Workspace (DHW) Proof of Concept (PoC). Launched in February 2019, the PoC enabled the ministry to test the DHW solution in a real environment with real users. The user feedback received during the PoC was instrumental in identifying existing issues with and potential enhancements to the platform.
Implementation findings, including your feedback and technical concerns have been identified and will be used to inform future work. Accordingly, as of May 27th, 2019, the initiative is entering a new phase which will require a return to original business practices for SCJ Commercial List users. Users can return to/continue submitting court documents on a USB stick, and are no longer required to use the DHW. However, there will be select cases that continue to participate in the PoC, and the ministry will contact affected users directly. The paper filing process of court documents will continue to be considered the official court record.
MAG sincerely appreciates your patience and feedback and will keep you informed of any further DHW-related impacts on court users. If you have any questions, concerns or wish to provide additional feedback, please contact MAGInnovation@ontario.ca. Thank you for your support as we continue to work towards more modern, streamlined electronic courts.”
The OBA will continue to monitor these developments, and advocate for sufficient investment in the justice system – including appropriate court system technology – to carry out the system’s important responsibilities.