By: Dr. Gerard Kennedy In a recent article to be published in the Canadian Bar Review, I analyzed whether procedure in the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal (the “Federal Courts”) is more efficient than in many large superior courts and thus is better suited to facilitating access to justice. Through a combination of […]
The Federal Courts Advantage in Civil Procedure Read More »
By Dr. Gerard Kennedy & Tasha Ellis 5185603 Manitoba Ltd et al v Government of Manitoba et al, 2023 MBCA 47 Provinces can, theoretically, abolish private law causes of action. They can even pass legislation to extinguish judgments. But can they constitutionally compel dismissal of a cause of action while in progress? That was the
Can the Legislature Order Dismissal of a Case Against the Government? Read More »
By Dr. Gerard J. Kennedy Across Canada, the chief justices of the provinces have been known to take a lead on “access to justice”. This is often, but by no means exclusively, done through emphasizing how to apply and potentially reform civil procedure. In my forthcoming Manitoba Law Journal article, I analyze the legacy of
Chief Justice Chartier’s Civil Procedure Legacy: Attuned to Access to Justice Read More »
Written by Gerard Kennedy and Eric Epp The Manitoba Court of Appeal Act has imposed a leave requirement to appeal an interlocutory order made in the Court of King’s Bench as of January 2022.[1] This change hopefully discourages unnecessary litigation by restricting appeals to instances that address an action’s merits, or where appellate intervention is
Finding Clarity in Appeals – Manitoba Imposes Leave Requirement For Interlocutory Orders Read More »
Written by Gerard Kennedy Effective January 1, 2018, many amendments were made to the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench Rules (the “QB Rules”), designed to resolve cases more proportionately, and thus more in accordance with access to justice. One of these, Rule 2.04 of the QB Rules, has rarely been used. But after the Manitoba Court of Appeal
Rule 2.04: An Underutilized Rule in Manitoba Civil Procedure? Read More »
Written by Gerard Kennedy Legislatures frequently seek to prevent meritless litigation from consuming court time. But how far can they go without restricting access to the courts, with such access to the courts being, at least to come extent, a constitutional right. A recent case out of Ontario analyzed the constitutionality of one gatekeeping initiative
Gatekeeping on Access to the Courts: A Double-Edged Sword for Access to Justice Read More »
Written by Gerard Kennedy Limitations periods are a double-edged sword from an access to justice perspective. On the one hand, they encourage: At the same time, limitations periods, at some level, suggest that there are occasions when it is too late to “do the right thing”. As such, complicated law has arisen, to account for
Limitations Law Changes Read More »
