Scheduling Judicial Pretrial Hearings  


Pre-trials are an important mechanism to provide the public with a speedy trial that focuses on the matters in issue.  As such they are encouraged.  A pre-trial held with Crown counsel should occur in advance of the judicial pre-trial, in order to focus agreements and admissions as well as the matters in issue. 

Criminal Rules of the Ontario Court of Justice

(Commentary, RULE 4 — CASE MANAGEMENT)


Crown Pretrial Hearings

Crown pre-trial hearings, conducted in advance of judicial pre-trial hearings and usually conducted via telephone, give effect to Rule 4.2(2) of the Criminal Rules of the Ontario Court of Justice:
Before attending the [judicial] pre-trial, it is desirable for the parties to (a)  meet in order to attempt to resolve issues; and (b)  review the file.

Judicial Pretrial Hearings

The Judicial Pretrial is a forum for the parties to make decisions regarding, among other things--
(a) disclosure;
(b)  applications, including Charter applications, that the parties will bring at trial;
(c)  the number of witnesses each party intends to call at the preliminary inquiry or at trial;
(d)  any admissions the parties are willing to make;
(e)  any legal issues that the parties anticipate may arise in the proceeding;
(f)  an estimate of the time needed to complete the proceeding; and
(g)  resolution of the matter, if appropriate.
See Rule 4.2(3) of Criminal Rules of the Ontario Court of Justice.

Policies around when a judicial pre-trial is required vary among Crown offices and Courts, but usually cases that necessitate a trial of a day or more are sufficiently-involved as to warrant a judicial pretrial.
Judicial pre-trials are not required in all cases, but as the Commentary to the Criminal Rules make clear, they “are encouraged”.  Even when a judicial pre-trial is not required under a Practice Direction or a Crown policy, it may be useful for defence counsel to schedule a judicial pretrial hearing, nonetheless.
The process for scheduling a judicial pre-trial hearing varies court to court, and it is often a tortuous one involving Crown counsel and defence counsel having to attend the trial coordinator’s office together, then returning to address the matter on the record in court, and submitting the judicial pre-trial form (which has been completed by the Trial Coordinator) to the Justice. The scheduled JPT date is noted by the Clerk on the back of the Information, and the Judicial Pre-trial Form is appended to the Information.
Thankfully, I am starting to see that the scheduling of JPT hearings is catching up with the times.

Scheduling a JPT at 1000 Finch
At the Ontario Court of Justice at 1000 Finch Avenue East, Toronto, for instance, the process for scheduling a JPT hearing is typically as follows:
·         Defence counsel can schedule the JPT in Case Management Court (#301), and would do only after there has been a Crown Pre-trial Hearing, and on a day when the accused is remanded to appear in that court.
·         Counsel should sign up on the Resolution Sheet (not the usual Counsel Sign Up Sheet).  The Resolution Sheet should be on the table to the left of the Crown lectern.
·        After the Crown envelope/brief has been retrieved by the court services officer or the Crown, the available Crown will then--in court--schedule an available JPT date with defence counsel.  This may be done while the court is in session, but is not done on the record.  It is a relatively informal process and can occur while another Crown is calling the list.
·         Crown counsel will access the Court scheduling system from his/her computer and will fill out the Judicial Pre-trial Form. The Crown will input, among other things, defence counsel’s contact information, whether the Officer in Charge is required at the JPT, whether the JPT will be directed to a potential resolution or to issues in expectation of a trial, and an available JPT date.
·         The matter will then be called by the Crown, who will address the JPT scheduling on the record, noting the time and date of the JPT hearing, as well as the date on which the matter will return to court.  So for instance, if the JPT is set on a particular day at 9:40 a.m., it may be adjourned to court 303 on the 9:00 am docket. Counsel will speak to the matter in that court immediately after having completed the JPT.  

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