Recording Your Own Hearing (In a Court of Law)

Recording your own hearing… It is your right according to law, but it should also be recognized as a “natural right” to record your own hearing. A justice system with any kind of integrity would never even question your action to record your own hearing.

Recording Your Own Hearing…

This isn’t just a right, it’s the law (in Canada). The Courts of Justice Act, RSO 1990, c C.43 section 136 (2), which is the rule book (the law or instructions that dictate how our courts perform their duties) for our courts, states clearly…

Prohibition against photography, etc., at court hearing

Exceptions

136 (2) Nothing in subsection (1),

(a) prohibits a person from unobtrusively making handwritten notes or sketches at a court hearing; or

(b) prohibits a lawyer, a party acting in person or a journalist from unobtrusively making an audio recording at a court hearing, in the manner that has been approved by the judge, for the sole purpose of supplementing or replacing handwritten notes. R.S.O. 1990, c. C.43, s. 136 (2); 1996, c. 25, s. 1 (22).

Furthermore, the right for a party to audio record their own court hearing for the purpose of supplementing their notes was reaffirmed by the former Chief Justice W.G.C. Howland. After faithfully serving the people of Ontario for approximately 20 years as the Chief Justice of Ontario, in a bold and decisive decision on April 10, 1989, Chief Justice Howland issued an historic Practice Directive to all Ontario Courts which reaffirmed the right of the citizens of Ontario to audio record their own court hearing under Section 136(2)(b) of Ontario’s Courts of Justice Act. In his directive to the courts in Ontario Justice Howland ordered, “Subject to any order made by the presiding judge as to non-publication of court proceedings, and to the right of the presiding judge to give such directions from time to time as he or she may see fit as to the manner in which an audio recording may be made at a court hearing pursuant to s. 146 [now s. 136] of the Courts of Justice Act, the unobtrusive use of a recording device from the body of the courtroom by a solicitor, a party acting in person, or a journalist for the sole purpose of supplementing or replacing handwritten notes may be considered as being approved without an oral or written application to the presiding judge.”

This one simple right alone draws into question the integrity of the courts when those courts deny or even just make an argument in opposition of that right.

On a number of occasions now, I have had to make argument to exercise a right that shouldn’t even be questioned – and that should be common knowledge to every court in this country. This is one (of many) perfect examples as to why our courts should be considered a failure… we are simply wasting our time (and the court’s time) arguing for something that doesn’t need arguing for at all. This should have been universally accepted as a citizen’s right and an established way in which the courts conduct their duties in maintaining their integrity toward seeing that justice is done — otherwise, the court itself is obstructing justice.

Key reasons why a recording is necessary and is a natural right:

• First and foremost, a recorded proceeding holds the judges, prosecutors, and lawyers accountable in their duty to perform diligently.
• The recording captures “the tone” of the discussions, something that cannot be achieved with the transcripts (this is where you can really determine how neutral a judge is as well as his/her professionalism).
• With a recording, one has the ability to keep the freshness of the hearing clear in one’s mind as opposed to waiting possibly months for the transcripts to be completed. This also allows you to prepare legal documents, such as an appeal document, if you don’t think things are going to go your way based on what you have already seen or to build your defense (or Claim) before a trial if you are going to bring motions before the courts.
• A recording also insures that you will have the ability to check for accuracy of the transcripts after they have been made available to you for court and administrative accountability — doing your own due diligence in seeing that the integrity of the justice system is upheld. With a recording, you have the evidence to minimize corruption within the courtrooms.

I cannot emphasize enough how important this is in serving a credible justice system. In every way it serves as a tool for holding the courts accountable for their actions and is an important tool in maintaining our rights to life, liberty and security.

A great injustice is being perpetrated by our courts on the people they are supposed to be serving because not only are we being denied the right to record our own hearings, but in some cases people have even been arrested for forcing this right in a court of law. This is, without a doubt, not only a great injustice, but also a criminal act against the people by the individuals who took an oath to serve us — members of the public — as well as freedom and justice in the name of all those who gave their lives in its defense. In other words, an act of treason is being perpetrated on the public by these individuals — either that or they are completely incompetent and should not hold the positions that they currently do.

The following document will shed more light on the topic of Recording Your Own Hearing In A Court Of Law — view it here. I have had some success producing/handing this document over to justices of the peace, but not all went well in all situations as you will see if you research my Summary of Cases page (my personal challenges in standing up for my Natural Right to Use the Road).  These Recording Your Own Hearing documents were provided to me via the courtesy of the Canada Court Watch website.