Court of Appeal

The Law Society of Ontario appealed a Divisional Court decision upholding a Law Society Tribunal finding that the applicant, who had a history of child sexual abuse, was of good character and could be licensed to practice law with a condition that he not be alone with minors.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, finding the Tribunal's decision unreasonable because it failed to properly consider the overarching public interest and public trust in the legal profession.

The Court also found the licensing condition internally inconsistent with a finding of good character.

The matter was remitted to the Hearing Division for a fresh assessment.

Additionally, the Court granted the applicant's motion for an anonymization and non-publication order to protect the identity of his daughter, a victim of his past abuse.

The applicant sought relief in an appeal before the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

The court reviewed the record and applied the governing legal and procedural standards, including deference to factual and discretionary determinations where required.

The matter concluded with the following disposition: Motion dismissed.

The appellant appealed his convictions for possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking, possession of the proceeds of crime, and obstruction of a peace officer.

He argued the trial judge failed to properly scrutinize the evidence of an unsavoury witness, improperly refused to draw an adverse inference against the Crown for failing to call a witness, and improperly used his silence at trial.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the trial judge properly assessed the witness's credibility, identified confirmatory evidence, and correctly applied the law regarding the accused's decision not to testify.

The appellant appealed his convictions for sexual exploitation and related offences involving two high school students.

The central issue was whether the appellant was in a 'position of trust' under s. 153(1) of the Criminal Code when the sexual touching occurred.

The Court of Appeal allowed the conviction appeal, finding that the trial judge erred in law by misapplying the factors for determining a position of trust and focusing on the complainants' subjective impressions rather than the appellant's assumed role.

A new trial was ordered for the sexual exploitation counts, while the sentence appeal for possession of child sexual abuse material was dismissed.

The appellant appealed his convictions for aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, and assault causing bodily harm, as well as his three-year sentence.

The convictions arose from a series of assaults against a single complainant, including an attempt to throw her off a balcony.

On the conviction appeal, the Court of Appeal found no error in the trial judge's credibility assessments and rejection of the appellant's evidence.

On the sentence appeal, the Court held that the trial judge did not err in treating rehabilitation as a neutral factor.

Furthermore, the Court found no error in the denial of Downes credit for strict bail conditions, as the appellant failed to lead evidence regarding the specific terms of his house arrest and their impact on his liberty.

Both appeals were dismissed.

The appellant appealed the dismissal of her anti-SLAPP motion regarding a $2.5 million defamation counterclaim brought by her former employer.

The motion judge had found the counterclaim had the hallmarks of a SLAPP and there was no evidence of a causal link between the appellant's expression and the respondents' alleged harm, but allowed the counterclaim to proceed because dismissing it would not meaningfully reduce the scope of the factual inquiry at trial.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, holding that under the Supreme Court's decision in Hansman, the weighing exercise must be tethered to the statutory text, which requires evidence of likely harm and causation.

The overlap between the claim and counterclaim was an impermissible consideration.

The counterclaim was dismissed, and the appellant was awarded $5,000 in statutory damages and costs.

The appellants, a wife and a family company, appealed a partial determination of competing applications regarding the company's share structure and the beneficial ownership of a property.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, finding the application judge made palpable and overriding errors by failing to consider relevant evidence, including the company accountant's testimony regarding the share structure, and by failing to address the presumption of resulting trust regarding the property.

The matter was remitted to the Superior Court for a rehearing before a different judge.

The applicant sought relief in an appeal before the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

The court reviewed the record and applied the governing legal and procedural standards, including deference to factual and discretionary determinations where required.

The matter concluded with the following disposition: Appeal dismissed.

The applicant, having been convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to over 8 years in custody, applied for judicial interim release pending his appeal.

The Crown opposed the application primarily on the public interest ground.

The motion judge found that the applicant's proposed ground of appeal regarding the jury instruction on self-defence and unlawful act assault clearly surpassed the not frivolous threshold.

Finding no public safety or flight risks, the motion judge concluded that the public interest in reviewability outweighed the public interest in enforceability, and granted bail pending appeal.

The applicant sought relief in an appeal before the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

The court reviewed the record and applied the governing legal and procedural standards, including deference to factual and discretionary determinations where required.

The matter concluded with the following disposition: Motion dismissed.

The applicant sought relief in an appeal before the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

The court reviewed the record and applied the governing legal and procedural standards, including deference to factual and discretionary determinations where required.

The matter concluded with the following disposition: Appeal dismissed.

The appellant appealed a motion judge's order dismissing his motion to set aside final family law orders and requiring him to obtain leave before bringing further motions until outstanding costs were paid.

He also sought to appeal a $20,000 costs order.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the appellant misread the leave order and failed to identify any errors by the motion judge.

The Court awarded the respondent $10,000 in costs on a substantial indemnity basis due to the appellant's improper conduct, and directed that the costs order is enforceable by the Family Responsibility Office as a support order.

The respondent sought specific performance of an asset purchase agreement for its restaurant.

At the hearing, the application judge denied specific performance but awarded restitution for unjust enrichment, despite the claim not being pleaded in the Notice of Application.

The application judge had also indicated during the hearing that he would not entertain the unpleaded restitution claim, leading the appellant to make no submissions on the issue.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and set aside the judgment, finding that the application judge's conduct denied the appellant procedural fairness and the right to know the case it had to meet.

The appellant sought to enforce a Chilean arbitral award in Ontario against the respondent, a non-party to the arbitration, arguing the respondent assumed the judgment debtor's liabilities through an Italian spin-off agreement.

The motion judge stayed the enforcement application on the basis of forum non conveniens, finding that the threshold issue of liability must be determined first and that Italy was the clearly more appropriate forum.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, holding that the motion judge did not err in severing liability from enforcement, applying the forum non conveniens doctrine, or granting a temporary stay pending the resolution of Italian proceedings.

The applicant sought relief in a motion before the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

The court reviewed the record and applied the governing legal and procedural standards, including deference to factual and discretionary determinations where required.

The matter concluded with the following disposition: Motion dismissed.

The appellant appealed a trial judgment finding him in civil contempt for breaching a Mareva injunction and sentencing him to 90 days' incarceration, as well as orders for equalization and support.

The appellant argued the contempt proceedings were procedurally unfair and the sentence was disproportionate.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, finding the trial judge provided adequate assistance to the self-represented appellant, correctly applied the test for civil contempt, and reasonably imposed a custodial sentence given the appellant's chronic non-disclosure, deliberate obfuscation, and flagrant disregard for court orders over 15 years of family litigation.

The applicant sought relief in an appeal before the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

The court reviewed the record and applied the governing legal and procedural standards, including deference to factual and discretionary determinations where required.

The matter concluded with the following disposition: Appeal allowed.

The applicant sought relief in an appeal before the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

The court reviewed the record and applied the governing legal and procedural standards, including deference to factual and discretionary determinations where required.

The matter concluded with the following disposition: Appeal dismissed.

The appellant appealed the dismissal of his action for specific performance of a failed commercial real estate agreement of purchase and sale, the denial of his post-trial motion to amend his pleadings to claim damages, and the trial judge's finding that a 12% mortgage interest rate offended s. 8 of the Interest Act.

The Court of Appeal upheld the refusal to grant specific performance, finding no error in the trial judge's conclusion that the property was not unique and damages would be adequate.

The Court also upheld the refusal to allow a post-trial amendment to claim damages, noting the prejudice to the respondent.

However, the Court allowed the appeal regarding the mortgage, holding that the 12% interest rate commenced prior to default and therefore did not violate s. 8 of the Interest Act.

The applicant sought relief in an appeal before the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

The court reviewed the record and applied the governing legal and procedural standards, including deference to factual and discretionary determinations where required.

The matter concluded with the following disposition: Appeal allowed.