Archive
22 Jun

Reviews mixed on Ontario court files access

NewsOntario journalists have compiled a second edition of The Justice Reporter, a newsletter that explores the openness of the province’s courts. Despite the attorney general’s decision in April to rescind […]

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14 Apr

Ontario reverses block on access to court files

ByDean Jobb “The administration of justice thrives on exposure to light – and withers under a cloud of secrecy,” Justice Morris Fish of the Supreme Court of Canada wrote in […]

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2 Apr

Ontario lifts court file restriction

NewsToronto (April 1, 2009) – The Ontario government has reversed a controversial policy that blocked access to court files in cases subject to a publication ban. Journalists objected to the […]

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3 Mar

Access to court files: law, reality miles apart

FeatureThere’s a growing chorus of complaint that access to key court documents — informations setting out criminal charges, exhibits tendered during trials, youth court dockets — has become increasingly restrictive […]

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18 Feb

Outdated rules block access to Ontario court records

ByDean Jobb In courthouses in Toronto, Woodstock, Kenora, Cornwall and countless other Ontario cities, journalists are routinely denied easy access to case files and exhibits based on outdated precedents and […]

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2 Feb

Newsletter tackles poor access to Ontario court files

NewsOntario journalists are being denied their right to view and copy basic court documents under questionable provincial access policies. In response, Tracey Tyler, the Toronto Star‘s legal affairs reporter, and […]

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28 Jan

Web access to court files expanding

FeatureThe age of Internet access to court records has dawned in Canada. British Columbia is leading the way with online access to some 200,000 court documents and more to come, […]

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28 Jan

Holding court on the web

FeatureAnyone with Internet access could watch live video of the Ontario Court of Appeal hearing that exonerated Steven Truscott of a 1950s murder. Despite that initiative – not to mention a […]

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11 Dec

N.S. courts withdraw media accreditation plan

NewsNova Scotia’s courts have withdrawn a controversial plan to accredit journalists and mete out unspecified punishment to journalists deemed to have violated guidelines on access to hearings and documents. It […]

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9 Dec

Access court challenge

While everyone has a protected right to speak to government, including the right to request information, do citizens (including journalists) have a correlative Charter right to an answer from government? […]

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