The landmark Supreme Court of Canada Pintea v Johns case decision came down in April 2017. The decision rejected the idea that SRLs and lawyers representing parties can be formally “equal,” recognizing the difficulties inevitably experienced by those with less knowledge and experience of the legal system, and exhorting courts to apply the CJC Statement of Principles on Self-Represented Litigants and Accused Persons to ensure that SRLs meaningfully participate in court processes.
In the fall of 2018, NSRLP published a report (by Kaila Scarrow and Julie Macfarlane) 18 months after the Pintea decision, asking the question, “What has Pintea meant for decisions across the country involving SRLs?” and taking a deep dive into the available data.
Since then, as cases have continued to reference Pintea, we have decided that an update is in order. In this new report, “Pintea v Johns: An Updated Commentary,” Anjanee Naidu and Julie Macfarlane continue to track the trends in decisions citing Pintea – how are courts applying and distinguishing this case?
The SRL Case Law Database Project is financially supported by the University of Windsor Law School, the Law Foundation of Ontario, the Foundation for Legal Research, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Thanks to all our funders.
I wish to provide data to your study and hand over all family court records for you inspection.
As a self represented litigant in family court and also not from this province meaning the only contact with immediate family is during holidays. I have been called a loser by the judge, been told that the current custody and access order is for a maximum of three weeks when it is clearly written in the official copy of the order signed by all parties the summer access is in addition to regular access is minimum of three continuous and consecutive week, been told that Aug 1 to Aug 22 is 5 weeks the list goes on and as such the judge ruled contempt of the order and added costs on top of that.
I have organized court files in a google drive as best as I can, if you can direct me to any resources or make any suggestions on how to better organize I would greatly appreciate.
Desperately fighting to keep my sanity on the rock
Sincerely
Does Pintea V Johns apply to family court Justices or are family court Justices exempt from CJC guidelines and it is entirely up to whim of the Justice?
A tiny book by James Morton called “Procedural Strategies for Litigators 3rd Edition” (and the last edition printed albeit I hope one day someone will print an updated version) was brought to my attention by another SRL. I felt this book was well worth the high price tag given what an hour with a lawyer would cost. You can search for your province or legal issue. Also, the public library may have a copy. https://store.lexisnexis.ca/en/categories/shop-by-jurisdiction/federal-13/procedural-strategies-for-litigators-3rd-edition-skusku-cad-00573/details.
“Practice Directions” of applicable courts and areas of law was useful, ie:
https://www.ontariocourts.ca/scj/practice/practice-directions/toronto/family/
and lawyer articles, ie:
https://welpartners.com/blog/2021/03/consolidated-practice-direction-concerning-the-estates-list-in-the-toronto-region/
A lawyer showed me how they organized their electronic files by date, subject, and brief notation of key search words the document pertained to, ie:
2021-01-01_eMAIL_DumptyH to Kings.Men_re disclosure – sworn financial stmt – to be served and filed by 2021-02-15
2021-03-29_ORDER_WebJ (J being for Justice and the judges name)_re Disclosure ordered to be served by 2021-05-26
2021-06-15_AFFIDAVIT_draft.1_Applicant SmithC_Respondent SmithD_re Custody and Access – to be served and filed by 2021-08-20
This also provided me a visual timeline. I could then search “ORDER” and all my orders or “eMAIL” and all my emails would show up.
Having a “MacKenzie Friend” present during proceedings seemed to change the demeanour in the courtroom as I believe they can also act as a witness regarding any alleged misconduct.
But of course, ask a lawyer for legal advice first. I hope these thoughts and information help.
Fellow SRLs can be great sources of support and information and shared experiences. I met some while waiting at the courthouse to file documents as well as via the NSRLP and other legal community advocate events, for instance the TAG Conference at the Law Society and Access to Justice events. Process Servers can also be very informative.
The National Self-represented Litigants Project has great resources and Primers as well, including how to conduct your own online caselaw research (it would be great if they one day were able to make this into a video-tutorial). The NSRLP also had a student-buddy program for awhile. Perhaps you can ask about that.
Some courthouses have FLIC Offices (Family Law Information Centres).
These posts are not to be taken as legal advice but rather shared experiences and information only. Only a lawyer and in some instances a paralegal can provide legal advice. I always double check any information or shared experiences to ensure they apply to my own matter.
Warmest wishes.
Hi Julian, I’m so sorry to hear this. I wish we could offer individual services for self-reps, but unfortunately we’re a small research organization, and not able to go through individual case records or offer targeted support. I would encourage you to tell us about your experience through our SRL Intake Form. We use this data for research reports, and it informs our decisions about projects and resources. I will also say that you can email us privately at representingyourself@gmail.com. Although we can’t help with your case, we can send you resources and links that may be helpful. And finally, Pintea v Johns definitely applies to family court justices – because it is a Supreme Court decision, it applies to all lower courts in Canada. And family court justices are not exempt from CJC guidelines. Hope this is helpful; I’m sorry we can’t help more.