Ontario Superior Court of Justice

Ontario Superior Court Of Justice

The Superior Court of Justice is the superior court of general jurisdiction for the Province of Ontario, Canada. It is the successor to the former Ontario Court of Justice (General Division), and was created on April 19, 1999. Its predecessor, the Ontario Court (General Division) was the result of the 1990 merger of the previous High Court of Justice, District Court and Surrogate Court. The Superior Court of Justice continues as a superior court of record with general and inherent jurisdiction in all civil and criminal matters. Its seat is at historic Osgoode Hall in Toronto, and the court has 8 regions province-wide.

The Superior Court of Justice is a division of the Court of Ontario. (The other division of the Court of Ontario is the Ontario Court of Justice.)

All civil matters are disposed of in the Superior Court, with the exception of family law matters that are within the jurisdiction of the Ontario Court of Justice. The Ontario Court of Justice is a lower court that took over the functions of the former Ontario Court (Provincial Division) in 1999. The Superior Court of Justice has sole jurisdiction in divorce cases and in family law matters where there are claims for the division of matrimonial property. It also hears support and custody matters, generally when these have been included in a claim for divorce or where these claims have been joined to claim seeking a division of marital property.

The Superior Court of Justice is as well the superior trial court with general jurisdiction in criminal matters, and it hears all criminal cases that are tried before a judge and a jury. Judges of the Court also hear appeals from the decisions of judges of Ontario Court of Justice in summary conviction matters.