Ontario. Supreme Court. Central Office

• Central Office

• Ontario. High Court of Justice. Central Office

The Central Office of the Supreme Court of Ontario has its origins in the Central Office of the High Court of Justice, which was established in 1896 in Toronto, Ontario. It became the Central Office of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court in 1913, and the Central Office of the Supreme Court, in 1923.

At the time of its establishment, the Central Office consisted of the Clerk of the Crown and Pleas along with the Clerk of the Process, the Clerk of Records and Writs1, and various junior clerks.

Under Order-in-Council issued May 4, 1923, the individual Registrar's Offices for both the High Court Division and the Appellate Division were combined to form the Registrar's Office for the Supreme Court of Ontario. With this change, the Central Office was continued as a subordinate office of the Registrar's Office, wherein central Judgement, Order and other records of the court were maintained.

In 1989, legislation was passed which merged the Supreme and District Courts of the province and regionalized the court system in Ontario. As a result, the Central Office of the Supreme Court was replaced by the Central Office of the Metropolitan Toronto Regional Office of the Courts Administration Division of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

The Central Office of the Supreme Court of Ontario was responsible for receiving and filing papers in connection with the commencement of causes and matters in Toronto.

Law Courts Act, Statutes of Ontario 1896, Chap. 18

Judicature Act, Statutes of Ontario 1913, Chap. 19

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

2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM

Statutes of Ontario (see above) Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Supreme Court of Ontario (Civil Matters), 1951

Ontario Public Accounts

Government of Ontario Telephone Directories, 1989-1990

Annual Reports of the Ministry of the Attorney General, 1989/90 and 1990/91

Archivist(s):
T. Belton, R. Anger