Category Archives: Access to Justice

Supporting the Unrepresented: Case Management of Self-Represented Litigants

By: Alena Storton

PDF Version: Supporting the Unrepresented: Case Management of Self-Represented Litigants

Case Commented on: Pintea v Johns, 2016 ABCA 99 (CanLII)

In Pintea v Johns, 2016 ABCA 99 (CanLII), the majority, Justices McDonald and Veldhuis, and dissent, Justice Martin, strongly disagreed on whether to uphold a case management judge’s decision to dismiss a self-represented litigant’s cause of action. Valentin Pintea brought this case against Dale and Dylan Johns for damages related to a car accident that had left Pintea in a wheelchair. In May 2014, after considerable time in case management, the case management judge directed Pintea to provide a witness list as a means of preparing the case for trial. Pintea did not comply (at para 24).

In July 2014, the appellant moved residences, but did not file a change of address with the court as required by the Alberta Rules of Court (at para 25). Following this move, all documents were served on the appellant at his former address and were not forwarded to his new address. Consequently, the appellant failed to respond to or appear at all subsequent applications and case management meetings (at para 25). When the appellant failed to appear for a case management meeting on January 21, 2015, the respondent’s counsel requested that the Statement of Claim be struck. The case management judge agreed to strike the claim if the appellant failed to appear for a meeting on January 30, 2015. The case management judge directed the respondent to serve notice of these conditions on the appellant, but dispensed with the requirement for personal service. The respondent left the notice in the mailbox at Pintea’s former address, which, again, resulted in it not being brought to his attention (at para 26).

On January 30, 2015, the case management judge found Pintea in contempt of court for having failed to obey earlier court orders and attend as directed. For those reasons, the trial management judge dismissed the case and awarded over $82,000 in costs to the respondent (at paras 27-28). Continue reading →

Access to Justice, Self-Represented Litigants and Court Resources: A Snapshot from Alberta Superior Courts for the Month of May

By: Jennifer Koshan and Drew Yewchuk

PDF Version: Access to Justice, Self-Represented Litigants and Court Resources: A Snapshot from Alberta Superior Courts for the Month of May

Cases commented on: Pintea v Johns, 2016 ABCA 99 (CanLII); Erdmann v Complaints Inquiry Committee, 2016 ABCA 145 (CanLII); JE v Alberta (Workers’ Compensation Board), 2016 ABCA 147 (CanLII); HH v DB, 2016 ABQB 164 (CanLII); Pickett v Walsh, 2016 ABQB 222 (CanLII); McCallum v Edmonton Frame and Suspension (2002) Ltd, 2016 ABQB 271 (CanLII); R v Cullen, 2016 ABQB 272 (CanLII); Alberta v Greter, 2016 ABQB 293 (CanLII); ET v Rocky Mountain Play Therapy Institute Inc, 2016 ABQB 299 (CanLII)

As the Coordinator and Student Assistant for ABlawg, we review all Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench and Court of Appeal decisions each week for their blogworthiness. During the month of May, we noted several cases dealing with issues related to access to justice and the courts’ role in and resources for dealing with self-represented litigants. Of course, resource issues do not only arise in cases involving self-reps. On June 1, 2016, Justice Berger of the Court of Appeal chastised counsel for parties to protracted litigation with the following words:

I would be remiss if I failed to express serious concerns for that which I perceive to be a disregard on the part of counsel for the limited resources available to the judiciary, particularly at a time when the courts are functioning with less than a full complement (Weatherford Canada Partnership v Kautschuk, 2016 ABCA 173 at para 7).

This statement refers to the fact that Alberta is short of both Court of Queen’s Bench and Court of Appeal justices. The need for the federal Minister of Justice to make judicial appointments to fill these vacancies and to create new positions given the increase in Alberta’s population has been commented on by Alberta’s Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley, as well as Chief Justice Neil Wittman of the Court of Queen’s Bench (see here and here). Chief Justice Wittman called the shortage a “crisis” as far back as October 2015, when he stated that the courts “are literally at the breaking point right now.” Continue reading →

Vexatious Proceedings Distinguished from Vexatious Litigants

By: Jonnette Watson Hamilton

PDF Version: Vexatious Proceedings Distinguished from Vexatious Litigants

Case commented on: R.O. v D.F., 2016 ABCA 170 (CanLII)

This Court of Appeal decision is useful in drawing a distinction between litigation that is vexatious and a litigant who is vexatious. A vexatious court proceeding may be challenged under various provisions in the Alberta Rules of Court, Alta Reg 124/2010. Typically, the vexatious proceeding is brought to an end and costs are awarded against the person responsible. The scope of the relief is confined to the one particular case. A vexatious litigant order, on the other hand, is made under section 23.1 of the Judicature Act, RSA 2000, c J-2, and typically forbids the person against whom it is made from commencing or continuing any proceedings in any court in Alberta against any person. Declaring someone to be a vexatious litigant is a much broader and more serious matter. The issue in this appeal was whether R.O. was a vexatious litigant, as the Court of Queen’s Bench judge had declared her to be, when all of her allegedly vexatious behaviour was confined to this one case. Continue reading →

Comparing the Views of Alberta Judges and Lawyers with Those in the Rest of Canada on Selected Family Law Issues

By: Lorne Bertrand

PDF Version: Comparing the Views of Alberta Judges and Lawyers with Those in the Rest of Canada on Selected Family Law Issues

Report Commented On: Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family, Comparing the Views of Judges and Lawyers Practicing in Alberta and in the Rest of Canada on Selected Issues in Family Law: Parenting, Self-represented Litigants and Mediation (2016)

The Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family recently released a report that compares the views of Alberta judges and family law lawyers with legal professionals in the rest of Canada on parenting after separation, self-represented litigants, access to justice, and mediation. The report, written by John-Paul Boyd and myself, presents the findings of a survey conducted at the 2014 National Family Law Program in Whistler, B.C., and provides recommendations in several areas including:

  • the language used in the Divorce Act, RSC 1985, c 3 (2nd Supp), with respect to the care of children;
  • the provision of unbundled legal services to promote access to justice;
  • the use of mandatory mediation where at least one party is self-represented;
  • the provision of limited legal services in family law matters by paralegals; and
  • the use of standardized questionnaires by lawyers screening for family violence.

The report notes some striking differences between the views and experiences of Alberta practitioners and those from elsewhere in Canada.

Continue reading →

The Public Interest Exception to the Normal Costs Rule in Litigation

By: Shaun Fluker

PDF Version: The Public Interest Exception to the Normal Costs Rule in Litigation

Case Commented On: Gendre v Fort Macleod, 2016 ABQB 111

This judgment by Madam Justice K.D. Nixon touches on the public interest exception to the normal rule in Canadian law that the unsuccessful party in litigation is liable to the successful party for either a portion of or all the successful party’s legal costs (commonly known as ‘costs follow the event’). The substantive matter in this case involved an application by the Mayor of Fort Macleod seeking to have the Court set aside bylaws and resolutions passed by the Council of the Town of Fort Macleod which removed the Mayor’s powers. The Mayor argued the passage of such bylaws and resolutions amounted to an abuse of process by the Council. Justice Nixon dismissed this judicial review application in Gendre v Fort Macleod, 2015 ABQB 623, and the media reported that the Council sought approximately $100,000 in legal costs against the Mayor. One of the arguments put forward by the Mayor in an attempt to shield himself from costs was that his action constituted public interest litigation.

Continue reading →