Law Times

Page 4 May 16, 2016 • Law TiMes www.lawtimesnews.com Small claims digitized, but farther to go: critics BY ALEX ROBINSON Law Times W hile critics say Ontario's recent changes to digitize small claims fil- ings are a step in the right direc- tion, they contend the province's courts have far to go in their slow march away from paper. The Ministry of the Attorney General recently announced changes that allow for complain- ants to file and pay fees online for all small claims up to $25,000. The new system's reach contrasts with that in British Columbia, where it has been possible to sub- mit filings online for Supreme Court and Provincial Court registries since 2008 as part of a pilot project that later became province-wide. Ontario's new system allows claimants to file their documents and pay fees online through a "filing wizard," which is a step- by-step program that guides us- ers through the process. It also has a "quick file" tool for legal professionals. The system is expected to streamline what can often be a time-consuming process. It also gives involved parties the abil- ity to receive court-issued docu- ments in small claims cases by e-mail without having to trek down to the courthouse. Jacqueline King, a certified specialist in civil litigation at Shibley Righton LLP, heralded the new system as an important accomplishment towards ensur- ing access to justice, but she ad- mitted it does have some gaps. King noted that while it pro- vides online services for plain- tiffs, defendants are not able to file their documents through the system. "It would be great if defen- dants could e-file and if we had an online resolution process where you could look at resolv- ing a dispute online," she says. The new system sprung out of a pilot project in 2014 that intro- duced online filings in a handful of communities for small claims, including unpaid accounts, loans, and overdue rent. In 2013, the Ministry of the Attorney General scrapped a comprehensive online system, called the Court Information Management System, that had been in the works since 2009. The system was meant to be a portal for digitized court func- tions and cost the province more than $10 million to develop be- fore it was abandoned. At the time, the ministry said it had decided to take a more in- cremental approach to modern- izing the courts. The ministry then launched its online pilot project for small claims in Brampton, Oshawa, Ottawa, and Richmond Hill. Almost 20,000 claims have been filed online since the pilot started and 15 per cent of them were filed outside regular court hours, according to the ministry. "So that says that people are accessing it who would other- wise lose time from their work," King says. "There are a lot of people who are in jobs and can't run down to the courthouse during the day . . . it's an access to justice issue." Ben Hanuka, a Toronto com- mercial and franchise litigator with Law Works PC, says the e-fil- ing system does not go far enough as physical paper documents will still be required in court. "The real problem is that it's still paper-based," he says. "Even though in the small claims court you can file electronically, it's still paper-based. They're still getting the documents on the other end, printing it and filing it, and when you appear in court, it's still a pa- per copy that has to be pulled out of the file." Hanuka uses an iPad as often as he can in court proceedings, but he always has a paper back- up, as needed. Hanuka partly blamed the slowness of the in- dustry to shift away from paper on the reluctance of lawyers. "When you look at many other sectors of the economy like hospitals . . . they've made huge advances in leveraging technol- ogy, scanning, and creating digi- tized documents," Hanuka says. "Why is the court system still stuck in the industrial revolu- tion?" James Morton, a past presi- dent of the Ontario Bar Asso- ciation, praises B.C.'s digitized system, but he says he under- stands why Ontario has been in- cremental in its approach, con- sidering a past controversy over a system called the Integrated Justice Project. "In fairness, Ontario is always going to be very conservative in digitizing courts," he says. In 1996, the Progressive Con- servative government of the time contracted a company called EDS Canada to create an online portal for court administration —part of which would move the courts towards electronic docu- mentation. But costs ballooned and the government later shut down the project in 2002. "Ontario was going to be the leader in Canada in computeriz- ing and making available online everything to do with the courts and, unfortunately, the inten- tions outran the technology and it cost an enormous amount of money," Morton says. "(It's) clearly not this govern- ment's fault, but the people at the AG's office still remember IJP." Morton would like to be able to conduct less critical parts of cases by videoconference or by telephone. When reached for comment, Jenna Mannone, a spokeswom- an for Attorney General Made- leine Meilleur, issued a statement saying the ministry is working towards a justice system that is "more responsive and accessible to the people it serves." "We recognize that there is always more work to improve the ease and accessibility to court services and we are committed to doing that work," she said. LT NEWS Ben Hanuka says the slowness of the industry to shift away from paper is in part due to the reluctance of lawyers. A professional grade platform that allows you to A professional grade platform that allows you to interact with your eBooks in entirely new ways. interact with your eBooks in entirely new ways. 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