Canada Case Law

Jones v. Jones

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court concluded on the whole history of the family proceeding that the claimant habitually and persistently instituted proceedings that were vexatious because she repeatedly sought to relitigate issues already decided, engaged in deliberate and tactical delay, made an egregious misrepresentation to a judge and persisted in the same conduct thereafter, failed to comply with judicial directions and lacked insight; accordingly a limited s.18 order was necessary to prevent further abuse of process while preserving access to justice by requiring leave for new steps or proceedings related to th…

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• Vexatious litigant orders
• Abuse of process
• Summary trial
• Stay applications
• Costs

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Nourifard v. Emadzadeh

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court varied a consent order to let the defendant use $166,076.99 held in trust from share-sale proceeds to pay legal fees, finding he had no other assets.

• Variation of consent order
• Use of sale proceeds to pay legal fees
• Beneficial ownership dispute
• Funds held in trust
• Limitations issues
• Consent-order

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Walker v. Kierans

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed Kathleen Walker’s appeal from an adjournment refusal and a vexatious litigant order made against her.

• Vexatious litigant orders
• Adjournment
• Procedural fairness
• Leave to commence proceedings
• Vexatious-litigant-orders
• Procedural-fairness

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Arapakota v. Imex Systems Inc.

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The motion judge's dismissal for delay was upheld because the nearly five-year unexplained inactivity was inordinate and inexcusable, generated a presumption of prejudice the appellants failed to rebut given the likelihood that witness evidence and documents necessary for a fair hearing were unavailable, and the purported fresh evidence either could have been obtained earlier by due diligence or would not have rebutted the prejudice; appellate deference to the motion judge's discretion was warranted.

Source excerpt

• Dismissal for delay
• Presumption of prejudice
• Fresh evidence (palmer test)
• Commercial list procedure
• Oppression remedy
• Access to justice

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SWS Marketing Inc. v. Zavier

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court allowed strata fee petitions to proceed, refused to remove the strata’s agent for now, and dismissed a petition challenging use of Bylaw 27(7) under s. 164.

• S.164 strata property act - significantly unfair conduct
• Bylaw enactment and use (bylaw 27(7))
• Removal/disqualification of agent for conflict of interest
• Res judicata and abuse of process (rule 9-5)
• Petition adequacy and pleading requirements
• Unpaid strata fees and collection

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The Owners, Strata Plan VIS 1549 v. Cinnabar Brown Holdings Ltd.

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court found Cinnabar Brown Holdings Ltd. had repeatedly relitigated settled issues and declared it a vexatious litigant, but declined to impose a blanket leave requirement for the Victoria Action.

• Vexatious litigant
• Relitigation
• Leave to proceed
• Finality of litigation
• Bullock costs order
• Section 18 supreme court act

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DLF Law Practice Incorporated v. McDonald et al.

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The motions were dismissed: the judge held the plaintiffs failed to meet the heavy onus to justify a stay and did not establish a reasonable apprehension of bias; the related appeal did not justify delaying distinct proceedings and the presumption of judicial impartiality remained intact.

Source excerpt

• Recusal
• Stay of proceedings
• Security for costs
• Conspiracy
• Fiduciary breach
• Case management

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Samra Enterprises Inc. v. 1022724 B.C. Ltd.

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court held that a post-vesting redemption could not stand, found the vesting order inoperative after the mortgage discharge and changed title, and set it aside.

• Vesting order
• Right of redemption (equity of redemption)
• Mortgage discharge
• Priority of mortgages
• Stay of execution
• Registration of title

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R. v. Teixeira

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court reopened a pretrial disclosure ruling, upheld public interest privilege, and ordered redactions lifted because it lacked inherent jurisdiction to impose the Crown’s limiting conditions.

• Public interest privilege
• Disclosure
• Right to full answer and defence (s.7 charter)
• Inherent jurisdiction
• Canada evidence act s.37
• Vetrovec witness

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Prandi v. Mamdani

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court dismissed an application for a Norwich order compelling a non-party to disclose anonymous Instagram messages, finding other sources existed and the request was a fishing expedition.

• Norwich order
• Equitable bill of discovery
• Third-party disclosure
• Supreme court family rules r.9-1(15)
• Bona fide claim test
• Privacy vs disclosure balancing

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