Oct 13, 2016
A recent Federal Court of Appeal decision has simplified the standard of review that applies to decisions made by prothonotaries, journalist Kim Arnott reports in an article in The Lawyers Weekly. In Hospira Healthcare Corporation v. Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, the court set aside the standard of review it established in Canada v. Aqua-Gem in 1993 which allowed for de novo review of prothonotary decisions viewed as critical to the final issue in a case in favour of the widely-accepted current standard from the Supreme Court of Canada ruling in Housen which uses a “standard of correctness” for questions of law or mixed fact and law. In the article, Arnott consults a number of experts for comments on the decision, including Vincent de Grandpré, a partner in Osler’s Intellectual Property Group.
“This will simplify things, which means more predictability, less cost and less confusing case law, quite frankly,” Vincent explains. “People are familiar with the Housen standard, it’s widely applied and there’s a lot of case law on it. Aqua-Gem was often misapplied.”
For further detail about this decision and the impact it will have on the review of prothonotary orders moving forward, read Kim Arnott’s full article “Court moves to simplify standard of review for prothonotary orders” in the September 30, 2016 issue of The Lawyers Weekly.