Arguments Against Virtual Trial Rejected

In Sui v. Chitiz, 2021 CanLII 50711 (ON SC), the plaintiff argued that the trial should not proceed by video conference because there are real issues of credibility which could be better assessed by an in-person hearing and because the volume of documents could more easily be managed through an in-person hearing. The court rejected both arguments.

Justice Sharma indicated that, in the experience of many judges, including himself, assessments of credibility can be effectively made using video conferencing technology.

Regarding the volume of documents, Justice Sharma said that, in his experience, accessing voluminous documents electronically can be much more efficient than using paper documents.