Ontario. High Court of Justice

• High Court of Justice

• Ontario. Supreme Court. High Court Division

The High Court of Justice was established in 1881 as one branch of the newly established Supreme Court of Ontario. The other branch was the Court of Appeal. The High Court of Justice itself was divided into three divisions - the Queen's Bench Division, the Chancery Division, and the Common Pleas Division. Although these divisions were similar to the previous courts of the same names, ie. the Courts of Queen's Bench, Chancery, and Common Pleas, they were different in that each division now had full legal and equitable jurisdiction. Each division was also to have three judges, just as the former courts did, with the chief judge for each division - the Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, the Chancellor, and the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas - being the President.

Under the Judicature Act of 1881, the High Court of Justice also became the trial court for civil and criminal cases in the province. Formerly, this responsibility lay with the Commissions of Assize and Nisi Prius (civil cases) and of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery (criminal cases). Although these Commissions, or Courts, were still held and were still commonly referred to by their old names, they were technically local sittings of the High Court of Justice.

In 1903, a fourth division of the High Court, the Exchequer Division, was established, bringing the number of divisions of the High Court to four, and the number of High Court judges to twelve.

The Law Reform Act of 1909, which came into effect in 1913, renamed the Supreme Court of Judicature for Ontario, the Supreme Court of Ontario. The branches of the Supreme Court of Judicature - the Court of Appeal and the High Court of Justice - were renamed the Appellate Division and the High Court Division. With these changes, the individual divisions of the High Court of Justice, along with the Divisional Courts of the High Court, were abolished.

The new High Court Division itself was to consist of four divisions, each with three judges, and two additional judges not attached to any division. Of the fourteen, one would be the Chief Justice of the High Court and would rank just below the Chief Justice of Ontario.

The principal duty of five of the fourteen judges of the High Court Division was to serve on a temporary Second Divisional Court of the Appellate Division. In 1923, legislation transferred five of the judges of the High Court Division to the Appellate Division making it possible to create a permanent Second Divisional Court.

In 1931, legislation was passed that changed the names of the divisions of the Supreme Court back from the Appellate Division and the High Court Division to the Court of Appeal and the High Court of Justice.

In 1989, the court system in Ontario was substantially reorganized and the Supreme Court of Ontario was abolished. At that point in time, all courts in the province, aside from the Court of Appeal and the Unified Family Court, were brought together to form the Ontario Court of Justice. The jurisdiction of the High Court of Justice was assumed by the Ontario Court of Justice (General Division).

The High Court of Justice was a superior court with full legal and equitable jurisdiction over both civil and criminal matters.

Ontario Judicature Act, Statutes of Ontario 1881, Chap. 5

Judicature Act, Statutes of Ontario 1931, Chap. 24

RAD: Rules for Archival Description, 2nd edn (2008)

2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM

Banks, Margaret A. Evolution of the Ontario Courts 1788-1981 (1983)

Zuber, The Honourable T.G. Report of the Ontario Courts Inquiry (1987)

Riddell, William. The Bar and the Courts of Upper Canada (1928)

Canadian Almanac, 1988-1996

Canadiana Name Authorities, 1996-12-24

Archivist(s):
R. Anger