The appellants failed to file their inscription in appeal in the trial court registry within the required deadline because the trial record had been urgently transferred to the Court of Appeal for a suspension motion.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and denied a motion for special leave to appeal under art. 523 C.C.P. The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the dismissal of the appeal but allowed the appeal regarding special leave.
The Court held that the 'impossibility to act' requirement under art. 523 must be assessed from the party's perspective, not their counsel's, and that the ends of justice required granting leave since the opposing party suffered no prejudice from the procedural error.
