Supreme Court Refines Ontario Litigation Rules: Aims For Lower Costs, More Accessible Civil Justice

There is a prospect for faster, less expensive and more accessible justice for Ontario businesses and residents by virtue of a decision recently issued by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The decision provides for summary judgment to be granted in a wider variety of cases than was previously available. Bringing a summary judgment motion can allow a party in an action to have a judgment rendered more expeditiously than in the trial process. The Court's primary rationale for expanding the availability of summary judgment was to increase access to justice and lower the cost of litigation for Ontarians.

A summary judgment hearing is normally conducted on the basis of affidavit evidence and transcripts from the cross-examinations of the witnesses who swore the affidavits. Previously, live witnesses were generally not permitted and the summary judgment motions judges decided the case on the basis of a paper record, without seeing or hearing the witnesses live.