New Ontario E-Discovery Rules of Civil Procedure in Effect

Dominic Jaar reports on Slaw.ca on the coming into effect of new Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure that include many changes in the rules relating to electronic discovery:

"With the arrival of 2010, the new Rules of Civil Procedure came into effect in Ontario, as announced on the website of the Ministry of the Attorney General. Rules were substantially reformed in an effort to achieve Honourable Coulter A. Osborne’s goal to 'make the civil justice system more accessible and affordable.' The reforms include changes to Summary Judgment, Mediation, Third Party Claim, Discovery, and dozens of other rules. Of particular interest to Slaw readers, the changes related to discovery represent a positive step towards control over the time and expense associated with civil proceedings in this new era of e-discovery."

In 2007, the Honourable Coulter Osborne, a former Associate Chief Justice of Ontario, released a report that proposed recommendations to improve Ontario's civil justice system.

Earlier Library Boy posts on the topic include:

• Review of Ontario Civil Justice System (July 19, 2006): "Former Associate Chief Justice of Ontario Coulter Osborne has been asked to study a range of issues, including the growing number of unrepresented litigants as well as ways to decrease delays and costs (...) This coincided with a policy forum [of the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice] called 'Into the Future' that examined topics such as how to deal with the proliferation of expert evidence, and the increasingly complex discovery and trial processes. "
• Ontario Civil Justice Reform Project Report Published (November 27, 2007): "The summary report contains 81 recommendations touching on 18 areas of procedural and substantive law, including unrepresented litigants, small claims, trial management, appeals, technology, courtroom civility and proportionality."
• Ontario Attorney General on Major Justice Reforms (April 30, 2008): "[Attorney General Chris] Bentley told The Laywyer's Weekly he is working on some of Osborne's recommendations, such as the suggestion to 'increase the Small Claims Court’s monetary jurisdiction from $10,000 to $15,000, with a further increase to $25,000 within two years...', and limiting discovery."

The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice at the University of Alberta has created what it calls an inventory of civil justice reforms in Canada. It contains descriptions of reform initiatives from across the country, each described according to a standard format that includes information on the purpose, development, implementation, and evaluation of the reform.