Unanimous Supreme Court Of Canada Denies Leave On Chronic Delay Case

The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) recently dismissed leave to appeal from the Alberta Court of Appeal decision in Humphreys v. Trebilcock (Humphreys), which is perhaps the most comprehensive consideration to date of whether delay in the prosecution of a plaintiff's case warrants dismissal of an action.

The decision by the Alberta Court of Appeal was subject to comment in our April 2017 Blakes Bulletin: Alberta Court of Appeal Cracks Down on Chronic Delay, Throws Case Out of Court. The SCC leave application obtained support from the Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers Association and Ontario Trial Lawyers Association by way of affidavits, which formed part of the voluminous materials filed. Despite findings of fact in the courts below that the appellants had engaged in inexcusable delay in prosecuting their action, which resulted in significant prejudice to the respondents, the appellants in the leave application argued that the real source for the delay was the result of