W. David Rankin W. David Rankin

Court of Appeal for Ontario articulates limits on jurisdiction to ‘pull up’ an appeal

The Court of Appeal for Ontario recently released brief reasons which provide essential guidance regarding the limits of the Court’s ability to...

Supreme Court of Canada splits 4-3 on whether to proceed with moot appeal

Appellate courts will rarely exercise their jurisdiction to hear a moot criminal appeal. Such a circumstance recently arose in R. v. Poulin, 2019 SCC...

Agreement that order is final does not vest the Court of Appeal with jurisdiction

The Court of Appeal for Ontario has recently reminded practitioners that agreement that an order is final does not vest the Court with jurisdiction....

What happens when an appellate court releases reasons in error

We deal extensively with appellate practice and procedure in Sopinka and Gelowitz on the Conduct of an Appeal, 4th Edition, but occasionally novel...

Appeal from denial of leave to appeal: Limits to the “jurisdiction exception”

There is an established line of authority that no appeal lies to the Court of Appeal for Ontario from a lower court decision denying leave to appeal,...

Court of Appeal stays ‘unsealing’ order pending leave to appeal to the Supreme Court

In Donovan v. Sherman Estate, 2019 ONCA 376, the Court of Appeal for Ontario set aside a sealing order, to take effect 10 days after the release of...

Supreme Court of Canada: Error for Court of Appeal to make factual finding trial judge declined to make

In brief oral reasons from the bench, the Supreme Court of Canada recently held in R. v. Wakefield, 2019 SCC 26 that it was an error for the Court of...

Appeal quashed from “without prejudice” dismissal of motion for non-party production

In Quenneville v. Robert Bosch GMBH, 2019 ONCA 235, the Court of Appeal for Ontario recently weighed back into the final-interlocutory debate in the...

Supreme Court of Canada addresses “distorting lens” metaphor of appellate review

In Salomon v. Matte‑Thompson, 2019 SCC 14, the Supreme Court of Canada recently addressed, for the first time, the metaphor of the...

Court of Appeal for Ontario confirms that recusal order is interlocutory

In Brunning v. Fontaine, 2019 ONCA 98, the Court of Appeal for Ontario recently confirmed that a recusal order is an interlocutory order, meaning...