Duty of the court to self-represented litigants
Summary
TLDRIn a recent Ontario Court of Appeal case, the court discussed the duties judges have when hearing cases with self-represented litigants to ensure a fair hearing. The court said judges can ask litigants to summarize their perspective of the case, allow them to provide oral evidence, help them provide relevant information through directed questions, while being careful not to cross into advocacy. The court also said self-represented litigants have a duty to learn the relevant rules, procedures and laws. Opposing counsel also has duties in these cases. Overall, judges, self-represented litigants and counsel all have certain duties to help ensure a fair legal process.
Takeaways
- 😀 The video discusses the duties of the court when hearing cases with self-represented parties
- 😃 A recent case called Grand River v. Rambus addressed this issue
- 😄 Judges can ask self-represented litigants to explain their perspective on the case
- 😁 Judges may allow self-represented litigants to provide oral evidence and be cross-examined
- 😆 Judges can help guide self-represented litigants to provide relevant information, but cannot advocate
- 😎 Self-represented litigants must know court rules, procedures and applicable law
- 😏 Opposing counsel also has duties in cases with self-represented litigants
- 🧐 Judges must remain impartial and cannot favor one side
- 🤓 Self-represented litigants should check the video description for useful links
- 😊 The hosts thank viewers and invite them to subscribe for more content
Q & A
What was the recent court case that discussed the duties of the court when self-represented parties are involved?
-The recent court case was called Grand River versus Rambus in the Ontario Court of Appeal.
What are some things judges can do to ensure self-represented litigants have a fair hearing?
-Judges can ask the litigant where they think the litigation is at to get their perspective, allow them to provide oral evidence, help them provide relevant information through directed questions, while still remaining impartial.
What duties do self-represented litigants have?
-Self-represented litigants need to familiarize themselves with the rules, procedures and applicable law of the court so they can properly prepare and present their case.
Why can't judges be biased towards or against a self-represented litigant?
-Judges have to remain impartial in all cases to ensure fairness and justice.
What rules should self-represented litigants know that apply to court hearings and proceedings?
-Self-represented litigants should know the procedural rules like the rules of civil procedure that govern how hearings and court proceedings are conducted.
What resources are mentioned that can help self-represented litigants?
-Litigation Help has guides and templates to help self-represented litigants fill out civil motion court forms.
Why should self-represented litigants not expect to be able to provide oral evidence in every case?
-Judges allowing self-represented litigants to provide oral evidence is not a guaranteed right, it is done at the judge's discretion when they feel it would help the specific case.
What duties do opposing counsel have towards self-represented litigants?
-The video does not provide details on duties of opposing counsel, but implies they should also ensure fairness.
Where can you find additional resources mentioned in the video?
-There are links provided in the description box of the video for excerpts and other resources referenced.
What steps can you take if you want to be notified of upcoming videos on this channel?
-You can subscribe to the channel and hit the bell icon to be notified of new videos.
Outlines
📚 Duties of the Court for Self-Represented Parties
Heather Herrerton and Heather Douglas from Navigation Health discuss the duties of the court when handling cases involving self-represented parties, referencing a recent Ontario Court of Appeal case, Grand River vs. Rambus. They highlight the importance of the court's role in ensuring a fair hearing for self-represented litigants by asking them to express their view of the case, allowing for oral evidence when beneficial, and guiding them to provide relevant information without crossing into advocacy. Additionally, they emphasize the responsibilities of self-represented individuals to familiarize themselves with court rules, procedures, and applicable laws. The segment also touches on the impartiality required of judges and the duties of opposing counsel, concluding with a reminder to check out their shop for guides and templates designed to assist self-represented litigants.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡self-represented litigant
💡fair hearing
💡rules of the court
💡duties of judges
💡oral evidence
💡adjournment
💡directed questions
💡opposing counsel
💡cross-examination
💡bias
Highlights
Judges have a duty to ensure self-represented litigants have a fair hearing
Judges can ask self-represented litigants to explain their perspective on the case
Judges have discretion to allow self-represented litigants to provide oral evidence
Judges can help guide self-represented litigants to provide relevant information
Judges must avoid crossing into advocacy while assisting self-represented litigants
Self-represented litigants must know the applicable rules, procedures and law
Opposing counsel also have duties when dealing with self-represented litigants
Self-represented litigants should familiarize themselves with court rules and procedures
Judges must remain impartial and not show bias for or against self-represented litigants
Resources to help self-represented litigants are linked in the video description
The case discussed was Grand River v. Rambus regarding duties with self-represented litigants
The appeal questioned if an adjournment denial gave the self-represented litigant a fair hearing
The court found the self-represented litigant received a fair hearing in this case
But the court provided guidance on assisting self-represented litigants in other cases
Self-represented litigants should come prepared and know the law and rules applicable to their case
Transcripts
[Music]
hi everyone welcome back to navigation
health my name is heather herrerton and
joining me here is my colleague heather
douglas today we're going to talk about
the duties of the court when they are
hearing the case in front of one or more
self-represented parties
now recently there was a ontario court
of appeal case called grand river versus
rambus in which this was discussed but
before i begin i have a quick
announcement uh litigation help now has
a shop so and heather and i have
prepared guides and templates for civil
motions and for the ontario superior
court so if you're a self wrapping you
would like some help with filling out
these civil motion court forms be sure
to check these out
and the link to access this is in the
description box below
okay so now let's talk about the duties
of the court heather let me start by
asking you maybe just tell us a little
bit about this case
in the case that there it was an appeal
the
one of the individuals involved was a
self-represented litigant and a question
was
one of the questions was was the
adjournment that wasn't granted was that
problematic and did the judge give the
litigant a fair hearing the court
decided there was a fair hearing but in
doing so made a few notes about what
judges can do to also ensure in other
cases that people have a fair hearing
who are self-represented
so one of the things that they can do
is
to ask the litigant where they think the
litigation is at and to give them an
opportunity to tell the court what their
perspective of the lawsuit is
the second thing the judge can do
is in an emotion or an application
allow the self-rep to give
oral evidence viva voce evidence and to
be cross-examined by the other side that
is not required it's if the judge
perceives that that would help the case
in that specific matter so don't go in
expecting that you're going to have that
privilege of giving live evidence an
emotion or application
but if the judge finds that that would
be
the fairest way to handle the case
they are to swear the self wrap in and
then allow the other side to cross
examine after that person has given
their evidence
another thing a judge
can do
is
to kind of help the
self-rep give the relevant information
to the court and maybe by asking some
directed questions
of course the judge has to be careful to
not go too far and veer into advocacy
but in appropriate cases they can make
sure that they have the right
information by asking the relevant
questions
right thanks heather okay so this case
also mentioned that self reps themselves
have some duties can you elaborate a
little bit on that as well yeah so
self-reps they need to familiarize
themselves with the rules of the court
the procedures of the court and the law
that applies to their case so just
because you're self-represented doesn't
mean that you're allowed to come
unprepared to the court you need to know
your case and you need to make sure to
the best of your ability that you know
the law and the rules of the that apply
to your case and the procedures
and the procedures refer to things like
the rules of civil procedure so the
rules that govern how a hearing how a
proceeding should be
right judges have to be impartial so
they cannot be biased for some prep or
against the software for sure
and also i just want to point out here
that um there are also duties for
opposing counsel
um so i'm going to have the links to
these uh various excerpts in the
description box below so don't forget to
check that out um
right so thanks very much thank you
everyone for watching so if you're new
to the channel don't forget to hit the
subscribe button and also hit that bell
so that you'll be notified of our
upcoming videos and we'll see the next
time bye
bye
[Music]
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