Making Courts More User Friendly With New Signs

McGuinty Government Responding To Civil Justice Reform Report

BARRIE, ON, Feb. 11 /CNW/ - The Barrie courthouse will receive new accessible and bilingual entrance signage, part of a province-wide project to improve access to justice for the public by making Ontario's court services easier to find.

The government will consult with local judges, lawyers and courthouse users to help determine signage needs in each courthouse. The government will also consult with experts on accessibility issues and organizations representing people with disabilities to ensure the signs meet the needs of people with disabilities. Discussions will also be held with representatives of the francophone community.

The Barrie courthouse will be the first facility to receive new signs. Best practices from the development of these signs will be applied to courthouses across the province. This is in addition to the assessment of Simcoe County's current and long-term court facility needs through a Facility Renewal Study, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2008. The terms of the study are currently being developed and will include a 25-year master plan with recommendations for future court needs in Simcoe County.

"We are improving our court system and making the process easier for Ontarians who need court services," said Attorney General Chris Bentley.

"We want to make sure that when people enter a courthouse, there is no confusion about where they are to go."

"Improving the signs in the Barrie courthouse will enhance access to basic information," said Barrie MPP Aileen Carroll. "The end result will be better service and convenience and less stress for the everyday user."

The project to make court services easier to find is part of the government's response to a review by the Honourable Coulter Osborne. In his report, The Civil Justice Reform Project: Summary of Findings and Recommendations, Mr. Osborne highlighted the importance of providing better help and information to court users.

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www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca

Backgrounder

ATTORNEY GENERAL IMPROVING ACCESS TO CIVIL JUSTICE

Ontario is looking for input from legal associations, lawyers and judges on how to make the civil justice system faster, simpler and less expensive.

Attorney General Chris Bentley is travelling to communities across the province holding focussed discussions following the release of the Civil Justice Reform Project: Summary of Findings and Recommendations, a commissioned report from the Honourable Coulter Osborne.

In addition to these focussed discussions, the government is responding to Mr. Osborne's summary report by redesigning indoor signs in courthouses to make it easier for people, including people with disabilities, to find courtrooms and services. Preliminary consultations have been held and further consultations will take place with the judiciary, bar and courthouse users.

The Barrie courthouse will be the first facility to receive clearer, bilingual signs. Best practices will then be applied as signs are replaced in courthouses across the province.

In November 2007, the government released Mr. Osborne's summary report containing 81 recommendations touching on 18 areas of procedural and substantive law, including small claims, trial management, appeals, technology, civility, unrepresented litigants, proportionality and making courthouses more user-friendly.

To develop his recommendations, Mr. Osborne carried out province-wide consultations, researched reforms in other jurisdictions, struck three advisory committees and reviewed over 100 submissions.

The summary report is available on the ministry's website in both French and English at www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca.

Public comment on the Civil Justice Reform Project: Summary of Findings and Recommendations can be sent to attorneygeneral@ontario.ca.

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title="Attorney General">www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca

For further information: Sheamus Murphy, Ministry of the Attorney General, Minister's Office, (416) 3..., (416) 518-1322 (cell); Brendan Crawley, Ministry of the Attorney General, Communications Branch, (416) 326-2210 (173)

Reproduced from http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2008/11/c8838.html

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