Ontario’s busiest court has suspended all family trials, criminal trials and preliminary hearings amid a growing backlash from court staff and lawyers over its continued operation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Unless an urgent criminal or family court appearance is required in the Ontario Court of Justice between Friday, March 20, 2020, and Friday, May 29, 2020, the court is urging individuals not to attend court,” court spokesperson James Schneider wrote in an email on behalf of Ontario Chief Justice Lise Maisonneuve.

Criminal and family courts will remain open for urgent matters and cases that are currently ongoing may continue with a judge’s order, Schneider wrote.

The Ontario Court of Justice deals with approximately 500,000 adult and youth criminal charges annually and handles millions of provincial offences.

The decision will put more pressure on the justice system which is already dealing with a backlog of cases; Ontario’s auditor general last year found the number of cases awaiting resolution had grown by 27 per cent to about 114,000 cases.

Friday’s announcement comes after key stakeholders, including representatives of defence lawyers and Crown attorneys, said it was unacceptable to continue to run bail courts and trials for accused in custody.

On Thursday, Legal Aid Ontario told its lawyers not to show up to court starting Friday and defence lawyers have also been told to stop volunteering their time. Some prosecutors also planned to walk off the job Friday at noon in solidarity.

Last week, the Superior Court of Justice announced it was suspending jury trials, with some exceptions. Meanwhile, some staff at the downtown courthouse are upset that are still expected to show up for work, sources said.

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