Comprehensive Court Visit Report: Ontario Courts - Seneca College

This report details a student's observations from visits to three different Ontario courts: the Superior Court of Justice, the Superior Court of Justice- Small Claims, and the Ontario Court of Justice- Criminal. The student attended trials and hearings, observing cases ranging from criminal matters to small claims disputes. The report includes details about the judges, lawyers, and parties involved in the cases, as well as reflections on the differences in formality and security across the courts. The student noted the practical experience gained from observing the court proceedings, contrasting them with theoretical knowledge from books. The report concludes with a reflection on the differences in formality and security across the courts.

Running Head: COURT VISIT
COURT VISIT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note

1
COURT VISIT
Superior Court of Justice
The first court which I visited was superior court of Justice- small. The court is located at 7755
Hurontario St, Brampton, ON L6W 4T1, Canada. As this was for the purpose of my individual
assignment I decided to visit the court alone. I ensured that I follow all the court etiquettes as
mentioned in the assignment instructions. The date on which I had decided to visit the court was
on, October 25th, 2018. I knew the fact that the trials in the court would start at 10AM, so I
reached the court sharp at 10 AM. I was present in the court for the entire as I was asked to do
the same through my assignment instructions. I left the court at around 4.30 PM. The name of
judge whose court room I had witnessed was judge, Madam Justice Shaw. During my visit I was
only able to observe one case. The name of the case which I had observed was Deidun Jason V.
Bernard Dan. The lawyer for Deidun was Mr Doan Harry J and for Bernard Dana was Wiley
Thomas J. The case was in relation to a criminal provincial matter. The proceeding was sex
service which had been provided in return of material benefits. The lawyers for the plaintiff and
defendant were both present there. I observed that they were very busy making the submissions
of evidence and illuminating some of the some evidence as well, before they set a jury to sit for
the case. The judge heard the submissions made by the lawyers and provided a future date for the
case to be carried out. After watching this long case I left the court.

2
COURT VISIT
Superior court of Justice- small claims
The second court which I visited was superior court of Justice- small claims. The court is
located at 7756 Hurontario St, Brampton, ON L6W 4T1, Canada. As this was for the purpose of
my individual assignment I decided to visit the court alone. The date on which I had decided to
visit the court was on October 26, 2018. I knew the fact that the trials in the court would start at
10AM, however I got late and reached the court at 10.30AM. I was present in the court for half
day as I was asked to do the same through my assignment instructions. I left the court at around
12.30 PM. The name of judge whose court room I had witnessed was Deputy Judge Upenieks.
During my visit I was only able to observe one case. I really wanted to observe more cases but I
was not able to manage due to an appointment and had to leave. The name of the case which I
had observed was Mr. Jeff V. Mr Chan. There were no lawyers involved and both parties were
representing themselves. The case was similar to a trial case whereby the plaintiff had made a
claim against the defendant for refund in relation to equipment which he did not use. The
plaintiff and the defendant were in court due to some auto part equipment the plaintiff bought
from the defendant but did not use. The plaintiff wanted his money back but the defendant
refused to pay him back the money because the stuff has been over due on the part of the
plaintiff and therefore he denied to accept the return irrespective of whether it was used or not.
Meanwhile Mr. jeff had closed his shop for a long time and had no money in the auto part
business anymore. The judge made a ruling that Mr.Jeff should return the items in a 20 day
period. The judge informed both parties that it will be a waste of time to take the case to the next
level.

3
COURT VISIT
Ontario court of Justice- criminal
In relation to the third court, I had visited the Ontario court of Justice- criminal, which is
located at 7755 Hurontario St, Brampton, ON L6W 4T1, Canada. As this was for the purpose of
my individual assignment I decided to visit the court alone. The date on which I had decided to
visit the court was on 5th November 2018. I knew the fact that the trials in the court would start at
10AM and as I was late last time, I reached the court sharp by 9.30AM. I was present in the
court for half day as I was asked to do the same through my assignment instructions. I left the
court at around 1.30 PM. The name of judge whose court room I had witnessed was Judge
Donald Mccloud . During my period of presence in the court I had observed three cases. All the
cases which had been witnessed by me on the day were trial cases. The name of the parties
involved in the three cases were Bhatti Gurjit, MacNevin Donald and Singh Gurdev. The charge
which has been put on Bhatti Gurjit was 1 count alcohol and impaired driving over 80. Mr.Singh
also with the same charge with impaired driving by alcohol. Mr.MacNevin was charged with
bodily assault. The first proceedings I observed was Mr Singh cases where the defendant had
been found guilty by the judge for drinking and driving. He even also get his driver’s license
suspended for 1year with a fine of $ . The next proceeding of the MacNevin Donald cases was
quick and the defendant was getting the charges withdrawn. The last case was the Gurjit case
where he was charged with first count of alcohol. I left before the proceedings were completed to
pick up my nephew up from daycare.

4
COURT VISIT
Summary reflection
The observation made by me in relation to the three courts was not the same. On one
hand the judges and lawyers in the Ontario Court of Justice-Criminal and Superior Court of
Justice were dressed in a very formal manner, on the other hand the dressing was not very formal
for the Superior Court of Justice- Small Claims. The security in the Superior Court of Justice was
the highest followed by the Ontario Court of Justice-Criminal and Superior Court of Justice-
Small Claims. I was surprised by the fact the courts were not at all the way they are shown in
movies and were much more formal. I am sure that I have experienced the way in which I
should behave in courts which would be significantly beneficial from my future career prospects.
I also experienced that the court is much more practical then what we read in books.