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Criminal Proceedings Rules for the Superior Court of Justice (Ontario) (SI/2012-7)

Regulations are current to 2024-02-20 and last amended on 2014-01-01. Previous Versions

Part I: General Matters [Rules 1-19] (continued)

Rule 4 Court Documents (continued)

Notice to be in Writing

 Where these rules require notice to be given, it shall be given in writing.

Filing of Documents

Place of Filing
  •  (1) All documents required to be filed in a proceeding shall be filed in the court office in which the proceeding was commenced, except where they are filed in the course of a hearing or where these rules provide otherwise.

  • (2) An affidavit, transcript, record or factum to be used on the hearing of an application shall be filed in the court office in the place where the hearing is to be held.

Filing by Leaving in Court Office or by Mail
  • (3) Any document, other than one that is to be issued, may be filed by leaving it in the proper court office or mailing it to the proper court office, accompanied by the prescribed fee.

Date of Filing where Filed by Mail
  • (4) Where a document is filed by mail, the date of the filing stamp of the court office on the document shall be deemed to be the date of its filing, unless the court orders otherwise in accordance with rule 2.01.

Where Document Filed by Mail not Received
  • (5) Where a court office has no record of the receipt of a document alleged to have been filed by mail, the document shall be deemed not to have been filed, unless the court orders otherwise in accordance with rule 2.01.

Affidavits

Format
  •  (1) An affidavit used in a proceeding shall:

    • (a) be in Form 4;

    • (b) be expressed in the first person;

    • (c) state the full name of the deponent and, if the deponent is a party or a solicitor, officer, director, member or employee of a party, shall state that fact;

    • (d) be divided into paragraphs, numbered consecutively, with each paragraph being confined as far as possible to a particular statement of fact; and,

    • (e) be signed by the deponent and sworn or affirmed before a person authorized to administer oaths or affirmations.

Contents
  • (2) An affidavit shall be confined to a statement of facts within the personal knowledge of the deponent or to other evidence that the deponent could give if testifying as a witness in court, except that an affidavit may contain statements of the deponent’s information and belief with respect to facts that are not contentious, provided that the source(s) of the information and the fact of belief are specified in the affidavit, or except where these rules provide otherwise.

Exhibits
  • (3) An exhibit that is referred to in an affidavit shall be marked as such by the person taking the affidavit and where the exhibit:

    • (a) is referred to as being attached to the affidavit, it shall be attached to and filed with the affidavit;

    • (b) is referred to as being produced and shown to the deponent, it shall not be attached to the affidavit or filed with it, but shall be left with the registrar for the use of the court, and on the disposition of the matter in respect of which the affidavit was filed, the exhibit shall be returned to the solicitor or party who filed the affidavit, unless the court orders otherwise in accordance with rule 2.01; and,

    • (c) is a document, a copy shall be served with the affidavit, unless it is impractical to do so.

By Two or More Deponents
  • (4) Where an affidavit is made by two or more deponents, there shall be a separate jurat for each deponent, unless all the deponents make the affidavit before the same person at the same time, in which case one jurat containing the words “Sworn (or affirmed) by the above-named deponents” may be used.

For a Corporation
  • (5) Where these rules require an affidavit to be made by a party and the party is a corporation, the affidavit may be made for the corporation by an officer, director or employee of the corporation.

Alterations
  • (6) Any interlineation, erasure or other alteration in an affidavit shall be initialled by the person taking the affidavit and, unless so initialled, the affidavit shall not be used without leave of the presiding judge or officer.

Binding of Records, Appeal Books and Transcripts

  •  (1) Application records shall have a light blue backsheet of 176g/m2 weight cover stock.

  • (2) Transcripts of evidence for use on an application, at trial or on appeal shall have a red backsheet of 176g/m2 weight cover stock.

  • (3) Appeal books shall be bound front and back in buff 176g/m2 weight cover stock.

  • (4) Transcripts of evidence for use in an appeal shall be bound front and back in red 176g/m2 weight cover stock, except where the transcript forms part of the appeal book or record, and where there is more than one volume of transcripts, the volumes shall be clearly numbered.

Transcripts

Paper Size
  •  (1) Evidence shall be transcribed on paper 216 millimetres by 279 millimetres in size with a margin 25 millimetres wide on the left side delimited by a vertical line.

Heading
  • (2) The name of the court or, in the case of an examiner, the examiner’s name, title and location shall be stated on a single line no more than 15 millimetres from the top of the first page.

Standards
  • (3) The text shall be typewritten on thirty-two lines numbered in the margin at every fifth line.

  • (4) Headings, such as swearing of a witness, direct examination and cross-examination, shall be capitalized and separated from the preceding text by the space of a numbered line, and the number of lines of text on the page may be reduced by one for each heading that appears on the page.

  • (5) Every question shall commence on a new line and shall begin with the designation Q., followed, within 10 millimetres, by the question.

  • (6) Every answer shall commence on a new line and shall begin with the designation A., followed, within 10 millimetres, by the answer.

  • (7) The first line of a question or answer shall be indented 35 millimetres from the margin and shall be 130 millimetres in length.

  • (8) In a transcript of evidence taken in court, every line of a question or answer, other than the first line, shall begin at the margin and shall be 165 millimetres in length.

  • (9) In a transcript of evidence taken out of court, every line of a question or answer, other than the first line, shall begin 15 millimetres from the margin and shall be 150 millimetres in length, and questions shall be numbered consecutively by means of a number placed in the 15 millimetres to the right of the margin.

  • (10) Lines of text other than questions and answers shall be indented 35 millimetres from the margin and shall be 130 millimetres in length.

  • (11) Every transcript of evidence taken in or out of court shall have,

    • (a) a cover page setting out,

      • (i) the court,

      • (ii) the title of the proceeding,

      • (iii) the nature of the hearing or examination,

      • (iv) the place and date of the hearing or examination,

      • (v) the name of the presiding judge or officer, and

      • (vi) the names of the solicitors; and,

    • (b) a table of contents setting out,

      • (i) the name of each witness with the page number at which the examination, cross-examination and re-examination of the witness commence,

      • (ii) the page number at which the charge to the jury, the objections to the charge and the re-charge commence,

      • (iii) the page number at which the reasons for judgment commence,

      • (iv) a list of the exhibits with the page number at which they were made exhibits, and,

      • (v) at the foot of the page, the date the transcript was ordered, the date it was completed and the date the parties were notified of its completion.

Transmission of Documents

  •  (1) Where documents filed with the court or exhibits in the custody of an officer are required for use at another location, the registrar shall send them to the registrar at the other location on a party’s requisition in Form 22, on payment of the prescribed fee.

  • (2) Documents or exhibits that have been filed at or sent to a location other than where the proceeding was commenced for a hearing at that location shall be sent by the registrar, after the completion of the hearing, to the registrar at the court office where the proceeding was commenced.

Notice of Constitutional Issue

 Where an issue is raised as to the constitutionality of a statutory provision or rule of law, the party raising the issue shall serve a notice of constitutional issue in Form 5.

Rule 5 Service of Documents

General Rules for Manner of Service

Notices of Application
  •  (1) A notice of application that includes an application for prohibition shall be served personally on the court, judge, justice, coroner or other person who issued the subpoena or warrant, conducted the inquisition or made the other order or determination or the person in charge of the place where the applicant or respondent is in custody.

  • (2) A notice of application that includes an application to quash a warrant, conviction, order or determination, other than a subpoena or warrant to compel the attendance of a witness, and that bears the endorsement set out in rule 43.03 shall be served upon the Court Services Manager:

    • (a) by mailing a copy to the Court Services Manager’s office;

    • (b) by leaving a copy of such notice of application at the office of the Court Services Manager; or

    • (c) by telephone transmission of a facsimile of the document, in which case the provisions of subrule 5.05(3) apply, mutatis mutandis.

Notices of Appeal
  • (3) Where the appellant is the Attorney General, his or her agent, or was the informant or any party other than the defendant (accused) in proceedings before the trial court, the notice of appeal shall be served personally on each person in respect of whom an appeal is brought against an acquittal, order of dismissal of or staying proceedings on an information, sentence or other final order or other determination, as the case may be.

All Other Documents
  • (4) No other notice of application, notice of appeal or other document need be served personally, or by an alternative to personal service, unless these Rules or an order of the court requires personal service or an alternative to personal service.

  • (5) Any document that is not required to be served personally or by an alternative to personal service:

    • (a) shall be served on a party who has a solicitor of record by serving the solicitor in a manner provided in rule 5.05;

    • (b) may be served on a party acting in person or on a person who is not a party,

      • (i) by mailing a copy of the document to the last address for service provided by the party or person or, if no such address has been provided, to the party’s or person’s last known address,

      • (ii) by personal service or by an alternative to personal service, or

      • (iii) by emailing a copy of the document in accordance with subrule (6), unless otherwise ordered by a judge.

  • (6) Service of a document in accordance with subparagraph (5)(b)(iii) is effective only if

    • (a) the email message includes:

      • (i) the sender’s name, address, telephone number, fax number and email address,

      • (ii) the date and time of transmission, and

      • (iii) the name and telephone number of a person to contact in the event of transmission problems; and

    • (b) the party acting in person or the person who is not a party provides by email an acceptance of service and confirms the date of the acceptance. If the email acceptance is received between 4 p.m. and midnight, service is deemed to have been made on the following day.

  • SI/2014-5, s. 3

Personal Service

  •  (1) Where a document is to be served personally, the service shall be made

    Individual
    • (a) on an individual, other than a person under disability, by leaving a copy of the document with the individual;

    Corporation
    • (b) on any corporation, by leaving a copy of the document with an officer, director or agent of the corporation, or with a person at any place of business of the corporation who appears to be in control or management of the place of business;

    Judge or Justice
    • (c) on any judge or justice, by leaving a copy of the document with the judge or justice, or with a person in charge of the court office in the region, district, county or group of counties where the adjudication was made;

    Attorney General of Canada
    • (d) on the Attorney General of Canada, by leaving a copy of the document with the regional office of the Attorney General of Canada at Toronto, the office of the Attorney General of Canada at Ottawa or the office of the prosecutor retained by the Attorney General of Canada having carriage of the proceedings; and,

    Attorney General of Ontario
    • (e) on the Attorney General of Ontario, by leaving a copy of the document at the office of the Crown Attorney in the region, district, county or group of counties where the adjudication was made, or at the Crown Law Office (Criminal Law) of the Ministry of the Attorney General.

  • (2) A person effecting personal service of a document need not produce the original document or have it in his or her possession.

Alternatives to Personal Service

Where Available
  •  (1) Where these rules or an order of the court permit service by an alternative to personal service, service shall be made in accordance with this rule.

Acceptance of Service by Solicitor
  • (2) Service on a party who has a solicitor may be made by leaving a copy of the document with the solicitor, or an employee in the solicitor’s office, but service under this subrule is effective only if the solicitor endorses on the document or a copy of it an acceptance of service and the date of acceptance.

  • (3) By accepting service the solicitor shall be deemed to represent to the court that the solicitor has the authority of his or her client to accept service.

Service by Mail to Last Known Address
  • (4) Service of a document may be made by sending a copy of the document together with an acknowledgment of receipt card (Form 6) by mail to the last known address of the person to be served, but service by mail under this subrule is effective:

    • (a) only if the acknowledgment of receipt card or a post office receipt bearing a signature that purports to be the signature of the person to be served is received by the sender; and,

    • (b) on the date on which the sender first receives either receipt, signed as provided by paragraph (a).

Service at Place of Residence
  • (5) Where an attempt is made to effect personal service at a person’s place of residence and for any reason personal service cannot be effected, the document may be served by:

    • (a) leaving a copy, in a sealed envelope addressed to the person, at the place of residence with anyone who appears to be an adult member of the same household; and,

    • (b) on the same day or the following day mailing another copy of the document to the person at the place of residence,

    and service in this manner is effective on the fifth day after the document is mailed.

Service on a Corporation
  • (6) Where the head office or principal place of business of a corporation cannot be found at the last address recorded with the Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations, service may be made on the corporation by mailing a copy of the document to the corporation at that address.

  • SI/2014-5, s. 33(E)
 

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