Communicating Court Information: Towards a Canadian Court Records Handling System

Toby Rupert was a librarian living in Toronto.

This major study of the handling of court records in nine court registries in four jurisdictions in Canada grew out of the author’s involvement as editor of the 1982 publication Case Law Reporting. She had been distressed at the wide range of materials now coming forward through an increasingly inefficient legal system, and the difficulty of accessing these materials. Appeals have increased about 50 per cent over the course of the past decade, and this increase necessitates the prominent availability of court documents; Rees-Potter’s 29 recommendations should go a long way toward alleviating the situation. She identifies four major areas: court document files and records; judicial decisions; archives; and judicial decision distribution. Of enormous value to researchers and reporters are the archives. This study does an excellent job of revealing exactly what is available (names of forms, numbers, accessibility, etc., in convenient chart form) and how it can be used. On that basis, the study is extremely useful for all persons interested in understanding court processes and in gaining access to court information.