Courts of Ontario: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|System of courts in Ontario, Canada}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}{{Use Canadian English|date=October 2021}}

[[Dispute resolution]] in the territory that now constitutes the Canadian province of [[Ontario]] has been conducted according to [[Indigenous law]] from ancient times. French [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] [[court]]s were created in [[Canada (New France)|Canada]], the colony of [[New France]], in the 17th century, and [[common law]] courts were first established in 1764. The territory was then known as the [[Province of Quebec (1763–1791)|province of Quebec]]. A portion of that territory was designated [[Upper Canada]] by the [[Constitutional Act 1791]]. The colonial government of Upper Canada quickly abolished the French civil law, establishing English common law courts in [[private law]] matters almost immediately upon the colony's creation. These courts were reformed and reorganized on several occasions throughout the 19th century. Major changes included the creation of a court of [[Equity (law)|equity]], the [[Court of Chancery of Upper Canada]], in 1837, and the fusion of common law and equity in 1881. Periodic reform continued in the 20th century. In 1972, Ontario acquired another new court, the [[Ontario Superior Court of Justice#Divisional Court|Divisional Court]]. The current names and roles of Ontario's courts were largely settled by the 1990s.