Licence Tribunal
Appeal d'appel en
Tribunal matière de permis
DATE:
2013-01-03
FILE:
7816/MVIA
CASE NAME:
7816 v. Registrar of Motor Vehicles
Motion to for an extension of time to file an Appeal under Section 50.2 of the Highway Traffic Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8 from an Impoundment pursuant to Section 55.1(3) of the Act.
Applicant
Applicant
-and-
Registrar of Motor Vehicles
Respondent
REASONS FOR DECISION AND ORDER
ADJUDICATOR:
Patricia McQuaid, Vice-Chair
APPEARANCES:
For the Applicant:
No one attending
For the Respondent:
Russell Mcknight, Agent
Heard/by teleconference:
December 17, 2012
REASONS FOR DECISION
The Applicant brought a motion pursuant to section 7 of the Licence Appeal Tribunal Act for an order extending the time for filing an appeal pursuant to section 50.2 of the Highway Traffic Act, R.S.O., 1990, c. H.8 (the “HTA” or the “Act”).
The Applicant is seeking to appeal the impoundment of her vehicle which impoundment occurred on November 5, 2012. She initiated her appeal outside of the legislated timeline; therefore, on December 12, 2012 she filed a motion seeking an extension of time. By letter dated December 14, the Respondent Registrar advised the Tribunal that he did not consent to the late filing of the appeal. Given that the 45 day impoundment order expires on December 20, 2012, the Tribunal scheduled the motion to be heard, by teleconference, on December 17, 2012 at 1:30 p.m.
Tribunal staff contacted the parties by telephone on December 14, 2012 to advise them of the date and time scheduled for the motion. The Applicant was called again on the morning of December 17, 2012 to confirm details of the motion hearing. Messages were left on her voicemail at the contact number she provided to the Tribunal.
The hearing convened, as scheduled. Mr McKnight, on behalf of the Respondent Registrar, attended on the teleconference. The Applicant did not attend. The Tribunal waited for 20 minutes to allow additional time for her participation; however, she did not attend on the call nor did she contact the Tribunal.
Upon questioning from the Tribunal, Mr McKnight did clarify that the Applicant was the driver of the vehicle when it was stopped and subsequently impounded on November 5, 2012, and advised that her licence was under suspension at that time, for a period of one year which commenced in May 2012.
On motions for an extension of time, four factors are to be considered in assessing a request for an extension of time:
The existence of a bona fide intention to appeal;
The length of the delay;
Prejudice to the other party; and
The merits of the appeal.
In this matter, the only information provided to the Tribunal regarding the existence of an intention to appeal was that provided on the motion form by the Applicant, namely, that she only found out about the possibility of an appeal from a website, presumably the Tribunal’s, toward the end of the impoundment period. There is little in that statement to suggest to the Tribunal an intention to appeal, nor any explanation for the length of the delay. The Applicant has unfortunately declined to participate in this process by which she could have provided further information to the Tribunal. The onus is upon her to address these issues when asking for relief from the timelines for appeal.
When weighing those four factors, the Tribunal’s overarching concern will be whether the justice of the case requires that the extension be granted. On these facts, given the legislative intent of the impoundment provisions on which the Respondent Registrar acted, and in particular the fact that the Applicant, while the owner of the vehicle, was actually the suspended driver at the time of impoundment, the “justice of the case” would not prevail in the Applicant’s favour.
Therefore, for the reasons cited above, and specifically, the Applicant’s failure to participate, her motion seeking an extension of time for the filing of the appeal is dismissed and the Tribunal’s file shall be closed.
LICENCE APPEAL TRIBUNAL
_______________________
Patricia McQuaid, Presiding Member
RELEASED: January 3, 2013