REQUEST “ONLINE ACCESS” TO CMT APPEAL: “First-Come – First-Serve”

CMT’s Appeal in the PEI Court of Appeal

will commence

exactly one week from today (May 19, 9:00 am).

I have been wondering for some time now how the PEI Court of Appeal would accommodate the principle of “open access to the courts” with the CMT Appeal, given the Covid-19 Health restrictions currently in place.

Guidance was provided by the Hon. Chief Justice of PEI, David H. Jenkins in the following document: Covid-19: Electronic Hearing by Telephone and Video Conferences. I liked the way he starts…

With such a strong opening statement in support of the “open court principle,” I was hopeful I’d see – and finally did read – that members of the general public could request “online access” to watch the CMT Appeal from the comfort of their own homes.

MOVE ASIDE TIGER KING!

THERE’S A NEW “KING” SCANDAL ABOUT TO PREMIERE!

It’s not certain that everyone who requests access will be granted access. The language in the guidance document from Chief Justice Jenkins qualifies that online access will be granted on a “first-come first-serve” basis, adding that “Attendance of non-parties in electronic hearings may be limited by practical and logistical considerations” such as bandwidth.

Paragraph 6 of the above-linked document provides considerations that may limit access:

The last page of this three-page document – which you should read in it’s entirety if you’re planning on requesting access – is the one-page form. Here is a link to a PDF of that you can download, complete (I would print, “sign”, and then scan) then email the completed form to Sheila Gallant at the Appeal Court at: sfgallant@gov.pe.ca.
Here is what the form looks like. The Appeal no. is 1433.  Just put “CMT v. PEI Government” in the other line. Good luck!

PLEASE CONSIDER SHARING THIS SO ISLANDERS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN VIEWING THESE COURT PROCEEDINGS WILL BE AWARE THEY CAN REQUEST ACCESS…THANKS!