The Court of Appeal upheld the dismissal of an action for delay due to the appellant's unexplained, inordinate, and inexcusable failure to advance the litigation.
The appellant sought to overturn a motion judge's order declining to restore their action to the trial list, dismissing it for delay, and discharging a certificate of pending litigation.
The Court of Appeal found no error in the motion judge's conclusions that the delay in prosecuting the action was entirely the appellant's responsibility, was unexplained, inordinate, and inexcusable.
The court agreed that an inference of prejudice arose from the lengthy delay, jeopardizing the likelihood of a fair trial due to the passage of time, impact on witness memories, and lack of proper discoveries.
The appeal was dismissed with costs.
