Canada Case Law

Patel v. Canada (Attorney General)

Court

Federal Court of Appeal

The appropriate standard of review for the CJC executive director's screening decisions is reasonableness; the executive director reasonably concluded the complaints raised issues of judicial decision-making and appellate remedies were available; there was no breach of procedural fairness; the Federal Court was correct to defer and dismiss the applications; appeals dismissed with costs.

Source excerpt

• Standard of review
• Screening decisions
• Recusal
• Cjc ethical principles
• Legitimate expectation

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Dempsey v. Pagefreezer Software

Court

Nova Scotia Court of Appeal

Motion dismissed because applicant failed to establish serious grounds for a reasonable apprehension of bias; the judge's referral to the panel, participation on a panel that dismissed a prior appeal, and denial of an excusal from filing requirements were proper exercises of discretion and ordinary adjudicative acts; speculative and unsupported allegations (including purported 'cognitive tampering') are irrelevant and insufficient to displace the presumption of impartiality.

Source excerpt

• Recusal
• Reasonable apprehension of bias
• Judicial impartiality
• Sealing/confidentiality
• Filing requirements

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A.T. v. S.S.

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The Respondent failed to meet the high evidentiary threshold for a finding of a reasonable apprehension of bias; the mere fact that the Applicant frequently appears before Devonshire Justices in his professional capacity and a precautionary administrative direction do not constitute cogent evidence of bias, and the presiding judge is satisfied he can adjudicate impartially, therefore the recusal motion is dismissed.

Source excerpt

• Recusal
• Apprehension of bias
• Judicial impartiality
• Child protection

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McIntyre v. Spence

Court

Nova Scotia Small Claims Court

The adjudicator concluded that the appellant failed to meet the heavy burden to establish a reasonable apprehension of bias because her allegations were broad, repetitive and unsupported by cogent factual evidence or sworn affidavit; applying both the subjective and objective tests, the adjudicator affirmed he could be impartial and that a reasonable informed person would not conclude he would not decide fairly, therefore recusal is not required.

Source excerpt

• Recusal
• Reasonable apprehension of bias
• Impartiality
• Case assignment
• Hearing procedure

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Murphy v. Ibrahim

Court

Nova Scotia Court of Appeal

The trial judge’s decision to impose supervised parenting time and require a psychological assessment was a lawful exercise of discretion grounded in findings about the mother’s conduct and the child’s best interests under s.18(6) of the Parenting and Support Act; the judge provided adequate reasons and credibility findings permitting appellate review; there was no reasonable apprehension of bias; ineffective assistance of counsel is not available in this civil family case absent the rare compelling public interest; and the trial judge did not err in awarding costs. Accordingly the appeal is…

Source excerpt

• Parenting time - supervised access
• Parental capacity assessment
• Variation of parenting order
• Best interests of the child (s.18(6))
• Apprehension of judicial bias
• Costs awards

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Pereira v. Dexterra Group Inc.

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal dismissed a motion to recuse Justice Griffin. Prior participation in earlier appeals involving the same litigant was not enough to show bias.

• Recusal
• Reasonable apprehension of bias
• Judicial impartiality
• Abuse of process
• Judge-shopping
• Reasonable-apprehension-of-bias

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Skyllar v. The University of British Columbia

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal dismissed a student’s appeal from summary dismissal of her civil claim against UBC, upholding findings on academic jurisdiction, abuse of process, and absolute privilege.

• Academic jurisdiction
• Abuse of process
• Summary dismissal under rule 9-5
• Recusal / reasonable apprehension of bias
• Absolute privilege
• Amendment of pleadings

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Goldberg v. Law Society of British Columbia; Tran (Re)

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal dismissed Sheldon Goldberg’s recusal application, holding that none of the alleged historical or case-management reasons met the test for reasonable apprehension of bias.

• Recusal
• Reasonable apprehension of bias
• Standing
• Certiorari
• Case management
• Service of documents

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R. v. Fulton

Court

Nova Scotia Provincial Court

The judge refused to recuse because deciding the s.11(b) application did not require review of his prior discretionary adjournment decisions and a reasonable observer would not apprehend bias; the COVID‑19 pandemic qualifies as a discrete exceptional circumstance and 16.3 months were attributable to it; total delay from charge to anticipated end of trial was 29 months, defence delay was 0 months, and after deducting exceptional delay the adjusted delay was 12.7 months which is below the 18‑month Jordan provincial‑court ceiling, so the prosecution rebutted the presumption of unreasonableness a…

Source excerpt

• Section 11(b) charter — unreasonable delay
• Stay of proceedings
• Recusal and reasonable apprehension of bias
• Exceptional circumstances — covid-19 pandemic
• Jordan framework

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Duhamel v. Canada (Attorney General)

Court

Federal Court of Appeal

Only material necessary for this Court to determine whether the Federal Court correctly applied the reasonableness standard to the CJC decision belongs in the appeal book; the contested motion materials and the appellant's memoranda were not relevant and were excluded; table of contents entries must clearly and directly describe documents; costs of $300 awarded to respondent as the motion was unnecessary.

Source excerpt

• Standard of review - reasonableness
• Appeal book contents
• Certified tribunal record
• Costs on motions
• Canadian judicial council procedures

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