Ontario Courts Allow Recording

June 5, 2007 permalink

For years parties to legal proceedings in Ontario were forbidden to record the hearings in their own case, even though the law permitted them to do so. Now it appears that the courts are changing policy, and some courts are complying with this law.

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Another Superior Court Judge confirms that recording in court is legal for citizens of Ontario

(June 5, 2007) - While some citizens continue to complain about judges in Ontario court violating the law by preventing citizens from unobtrusively using tape recorders in the court, another Ontario judge of the Superior Court of Justice has affirmed that citizens do have the right to record their court hearings under section 136 of the Courts of Justice Act and that the court directive by the former Chief Justice of Ontario, Justice Howland, is still in force today.

On April 23, 2007, Justice D. Brown of the Superior Court of Justice after reviewing arguments about recording in court and after reviewing the Courts of Justice Act and the Practice Directive from the former Chief Justice Howland, ruled that recording of court proceedings was permitted under law. The citizens of Ontario can thank Justice Brown for his correct decision and for joining the ranks of those judges who have correctly applied the law as it relates to recording in the courts.

It should also be mentioned that the Attorney General of Ontario, Michael Bryant, stated before an audience of journalists in Toronto at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference held in Toronto last week, that the citizens of Ontario should be allowed to record their hearings and that the Attorney General's Office will be taking steps to put an end to the practice of judges not interpreting the Courts of Justice Act correctly. Hopefully, these few remaining judges who continue to violate the laws of Ontario will be straightened out once and for all.

Source: Canada Court Watch