Mistrial as Remedy for Delay

A recent Ontario Superior Court decision determined that a mistrial was the only solution for a personal injury jury trial which grossly underestimated the anticipated trial time requirement. In an extremely detailed, thoughtful decision, Justice Leach considered all the parties to the trial in coming to his regretful conclusion.  

[16]           For the sake of all the many stakeholders in our justice system, described above, all counsel need to be disabused of any notion that their trials will be allowed to proceed for as long as they may take, once they are underway, regardless of confirmed trial duration estimates.

Civil jury trials are extremely rare in Manitoba, so this situation is not likely to come up, however, the issue of delay and the inadequacy of court facilities is a national issue. 

Ismail v. Fleming, 2018 ONSC 6615

H/t “What’s hot on CanLII this week”