In the recent decision in The Society of United Professionals v. New Horizon System Solutions and Ontario Labour Board, the Superior Court of Justice set out the parameters for an application before the Divisional Court and how it will be heard remotely, and how materials will be filed. The highlights include:
- Hearing will be conducted as a video conference via Zoom
- Counsel do not need to be gowned but ought to wear business attire
- Counsel to be in appropriate surroundings where they will not be interrupted or disturbed
- Parties will agree to a password protected dropbox, from which materials may be downloaded and the URL and password will be provided to the Court
- Documents should be labelled and numbered, but if not possible, each document should be uploaded to the dropbox
- Facta are be filed in Word version and should contain hyperlinks for authorities
- CanLII version of cases are preferred
In my opinion, hearings conducted in this matter, will not only be applicable during the Emergency measures and social distancing, imposed as a regard of COVID-19, but will be the new normal going forward.