Things will be getting back closer to normal in Guelph courthouses starting Tuesday with the resumption of in-person criminal trials and criminal inquiries.
In-person family trials, summary judgment motions, and other in-person family matters will also resume.
During the pandemic the courts have been delaying most in-court proceedings and holding other essential proceedings by teleconference.
The Ministry of the Attorney General said select courts, including Guelph, would be reopening Monday, with appropriate rules and health and safety measures, for in-person proceedings.
For Guelph’s two courthouses that was put on hold when an inspection determined the courthouses did not have the necessary health and safety measures in place.
Guelph and a courthouse in Toronto did not open Monday as others across the province did.
Around noon Monday it was determined Guelph had met the criteria.
“The Ministry of the Attorney General has advised that it is now satisfied that all of the necessary health and safety measures are in place in the Guelph courthouses to allow in-person proceedings to resume,” the ministry reported on its website.
“As a result, the Ontario Court of Justice will resume hearing in-person criminal trials and preliminary inquiries, and in-person family trials, summary judgment motions and other in-person family matters in the Guelph courthouses on July 7, 2020.”
To continue limiting the number of people who must attend within courthouses and courtrooms, the adjournment of criminal case management appearances is being extended to July 31.
Court will also resume setting criminal trial and preliminary inquiry dates, including rescheduling trials and preliminary inquiries that were adjourned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The moves are part of an incremental plan toward the full resumption of services in Ontario courts.
The ministry has set Nov. 1 as the target day for full implementation of court services across the province.
