Ontario Court of Justice
| Ontario Court of Justice Cour de justice de l'Ontario (Fr) |
|
|---|---|
| Established | 1996 |
| Country | Ontario |
| Composition method | Appointed by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario on advice of the Attorney General of Ontario |
| Authorized by | Courts of Justice Act, 1990 |
| Decisions are appealed to | Court of Appeal for Ontario |
| Judge term length | 8 years (Chief Justice), 6 years (Associate Chief Justices) |
| No. of positions | 8 |
| Website | http://www.ontariocourts.ca/ocj |
| Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice | |
| Currently | Lise Maisonneuve |
| Since | May 3, 2015 |
| Lead position ends | 2023 |
| Associate Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice | |
| Currently | Peter J. DeFreitas |
| Since | June 3, 2015 |
| Jurist term ends | 2021 |
The Ontario Court of Justice is a provincial court of record for the Canadian province of Ontario. The court oversees matters relating to family law, criminal law, and provincial offences and sits at more than 200 locations across the province.
This court is subordinate in relationship to the "superior" courts. The phrase "provincial court" or "territorial court" is often used to mean a low level court whose decisions can be reviewed by a "superior" court. Decades ago they were managed at the local municipal level.
The Ontario Court of Justice is a division of the Court of Ontario. The other division of the Court of Ontario is the Superior Court of Justice.
Until 1999, the Ontario Court of Justice was known as the Ontario Court of Justice (Provincial Division).
Family law cases deal with matters of custody, access and support, child protection so long as these are not incidental of or were not previously a part of a divorce application. Cases are heard by a judge only. Appeals from these cases are heard by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
The Court deals with approximately 95% of criminal charges laid within the province and has responsibility for other matters pertaining to criminal law, including authorizing search warrants, bail hearings, and peace bonds, under sections 515 and 810 of the Criminal Code, respectively.
Criminal law cases heard before the Court are summary conviction offences, less serious indictable offences under section 553 of the Criminal Code, and indictable offences where the defendant has elected to have his or her trial heard in the Ontario Court of Justice (excluding offences found under section 469 of the Criminal Code - murder, treason, etc.). Criminal cases are heard by a judge only. Appeals from cases involving summary conviction offences are heard by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Appeals involving indictable matters are heard by the Ontario Court of Appeal.
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