The Divisional Court strongly criticized another judge of the Superior Court, Mr. Justice James H. Clarke, for having dismissed a motion for leave to appeal in the following words: “Leave to appeal denied. Costs reserved to trial judge.”<\/p>\n
In MCAP Service Corporation v. McLaren<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, the plaintiff MCAP had moved for partial summary judgment before Madam Justice Kendra D. Coats. Her Honour dismissed the motion (in reasons which can be found here<\/a>). MCAP sought leave to appeal and its motion was heard by Justice Clarke on April 16, 2007. His Honour reserved his decision.<\/p>\n Almost six months later, MCAP’s counsel\u00a0made inquiries of the court office and was advised that the case was still on reserve. The next day, the parties received a fax containing Justice Clarke’s brief endorsement, set out above, dismissing the motion.<\/p>\n The Divisional Court panel, composed of Justices Lee Ferrier, Peter Cumming and Joan Lax, was quite critical of Justice Clarke’s approach, saying:<\/p>\n [T]he failure to give reasons and the circumstances of this case, give rise to a real concern that Clarke J. failed to deal with the motion for leave on its merits. This is unacceptable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Indeed, the effect is that Clarke J. declined jurisdiction.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Accordingly, the court directed that the motion for leave to appeal be reheard before another judge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Divisional Court strongly criticized another judge of the Superior Court, Mr. Justice James H. Clarke, for having dismissed a motion for leave to appeal in the following words: “Leave to appeal denied. Costs reserved to trial judge.” In MCAP … Continue reading