Paul Ivanoff

Following the dismissal of the plaintiff's action for delay, the defendants sought costs on a substantial indemnity basis.

The plaintiff argued the defendants should not receive costs due to their delay in bringing the motion to dismiss.

The court held the defendants were entitled to costs, but only on a partial indemnity basis, as the plaintiff's conduct was not reprehensible, scandalous, or outrageous.

Given the lengthy delay and the fact that the judges who dealt with the merits had retired, the court found exceptional circumstances warranted referring the costs for assessment rather than fixing them.

The defendants brought a motion to dismiss the plaintiff's action for delay under Rule 24 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

The action, which alleged negligent engineering in the construction of a cogeneration station, had been dormant for several years following a successful appeal by the plaintiff in 2009.

The court found the delay to be inordinate, inexcusable, and prejudicial to the defendants, as several potential witnesses were no longer available.

The court dismissed the action for delay and confirmed its authority to award costs, directing the parties to provide further submissions on the costs issue.

The applicant sought an order under s. 6 of the Arbitration Act, 1991 referring a contractual dispute to arbitration under a specific multi‑party arbitration procedure contained in a power supply contract.

The respondent agreed the dispute should proceed to arbitration but argued that a different contractual arbitration clause governed, requiring a single arbitrator to determine issues of contractual interpretation before any broader arbitration process could be triggered.

The court interpreted the contract as containing both a universal arbitration clause for general disputes and a limited clause applicable only if certain economic conditions were established.

The court held the dispute concerned interpretation of the agreement and therefore fell within the general arbitration clause.

The motion was dismissed and the matter directed to proceed before a sole arbitrator.