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ARTICLE · 09 JUNE 2017

Reducing Trial Delays Or Coerced Settlements?

Blaney McMurtry LLP
Blaney McMurtry LLP
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The Toronto Region has recently announced a pilot project intended to combat the considerable delay civil actions face in getting to trial.

CanadaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Blaney McMurtry LLP
Blaney McMurtry LLP
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The Toronto Region has recently announced a pilot project intended to combat the considerable delay civil actions face in getting to trial.  Currently, it can take upwards of two years from the point at which the action has been set down to reach trial.  Recent media attention has called the delay a "worsening disaster".  The Toronto Star[i] identified one main cause of the delay as the diversion of court resources to criminal prosecutions which can be dismissed for unreasonable delay under the Charter.  This has caused the diversion of court resources away from civil actions.

The new pilot project targets personal injury actions which account for a majority of civil actions on the Toronto trial dockets.  The theory appears to be that most personal injury actions will settle on the eve of trial. Therefore, by forcing an earlier trial in personal injury actions, many matters will settle and be diverted from the court system, freeing up court resources to deal with

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