The plaintiff moved to set aside a registrar’s administrative dismissal of his action for delay under Rule 48.14 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.
The court applied the contextual approach and the Reid factors, considering the explanation for delay, inadvertence, promptness in bringing the motion, and prejudice to the defendants.
The plaintiff failed to provide sufficient evidence explaining prolonged delay in advancing the action, including outstanding undertakings and discovery obligations, and relied primarily on unsupported assertions of health issues.
Given the age of the action, the expiry of the limitation period, and the presumption of prejudice to the defendants, the court found the evidentiary record inadequate to justify reinstatement.
