An Ontario judge has dispensed with the need for a signature on a probation order due to the risks of COVID-19. Justice Glen Donald, who presides over a courtroom in St.
Thomas, Ont., accepted a guilty plea remotely from Shawn Ralf on April 29 and handed down a suspended sentence with 12 months of probation.
Ralf would normally sign the probation order, but the judge did not want to take the risk. “COVID-19 has caused members of our society to reconsider many formalities that were previously of no moment,” Donald wrote in his decision. “Like the handshake, the signature is a casualty to the ‘social distancing,’ safety imposed, requirements of the pandemic.” Courthouses remain open across Ontario, but staff are significantly fewer in numbers