More than 10,000 Canadians received a medically-assisted death in 2021: report
Quebec Superior Court suspends Bill 96’s translation requirement until constitutionality determined
The Ontario government has given Maggie an ultimatum: the disabled teen can lose her funding or her independence
FBI took 11 sets of classified material from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home while investigating possible Espionage Act violations (US)
Ontario class action settlement reclassifies volunteers as employees, setting new precedent
Availability of Judicial Review in SABS Disputes
Are masking policies still valid?
Justice Canada releases commission report on impact of lack of legal aid in family law disputes
Harmonized sales tax part of maximum amount of attendant care benefits owed by insurer: court
New rules coming next month to help Canadians with cancelled and delayed flights
Stephen King set to testify for govt in books merger trial (US)
New law program in Quebec to begin next fall, a first in 50 years
The Impact of the Lack of Legal Aid in Family Law Cases
SCC rules that when someone is required by their partner to wear a condom but do not, they could be guilty of sexual assault.
Big Plastic suing feds over single-use ban — again
Tim Hortons offers coffee and doughnut as proposed settlement in class action lawsuit
The SCC has refused to hear the appeal to declare the renewal of the state of health emergency by the Quebec government invalid
Federal privacy commissioner investigating controversial ArriveCAN app
Kraken, a U.S. Crypto Exchange, Is Suspected of Violating Sanctions (US)
Ontario court certifies class action on former patients’ anxiety from notice of risk of infection
The stakes couldn’t be higher as Canada’s top court decides whether to hear climate class action lawsuit
Professor Barnali Choudhury selected by EU as trade and sustainable development expert
The Supreme Court decision on the ‘Ghomeshi’ amendments will help sexual assault victims access justice
AFN Reaches $20 B Final Settlement Agreement to Compensate First Nations Children and Families

Appeal court says it was OK for B.C. to punt many lawsuits against ICBC to tribunal

Attorney General David Eby had assigned minor lawsuits against ICBC to the civil resolution tribunal.

 
PHOTO: Surrey RCMP officers investigate a crash. Injury cases against ICBC worth up to $50,000 were moved from the B.C. Supreme Court to an administrative tribunal. PHOTO BY RICHARD LAM /PNG
 
 
The B.C. Court of Appeal’s chief justice has reversed his B.C. Supreme Court counterpart and ruled the province’s decision to end trials over minor vehicle-crash injuries was constitutional.

Writing the split decision of a three-judge panel, Chief Justice Robert Bauman concluded the lower court’s chief justice, Christopher Hinkson, erred in finding the reform trespassed on the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction.

Hinkson had ruled Attorney General David Eby ignored the constitutional separation of powers between the provincial and federal governments by authorizing B.C.’s civil resolution tribunal, an online service for resolving small claims and similar disputes, to also deal with the auto-injury claims.

He put the boots to Eby’s rationale that the move would help douse the Insurance Corp. of B.C.’s financial dumpster fire, driven in part by sky-high litigation costs.

Eby insisted the radical change was necessary because too many such claims, 24,546 in 2019 alone, were clogging the courts, the vast majority of low-value but consuming expensive trial time.

But Hinkson responded that for the previous five years, 80 per cent were under $50,000 and only 15 per cent were litigated.

“The claim that, under the CRT, the management of such claims will be cheaper is not supported by the statistics in evidence before me,” he said.

Bauman did not disagree, but countered: “I do not see the jurisdiction granted to the CRT by the scheme dramatically reducing the caseload of the Supreme Court either in simple numbers or in the breadth of remedies sought before it. … To be colloquial, the scheme here will not result in any ‘layoffs’ in the Supreme Court.”

Bauman pointed out that at the time of Confederation, in two of the four provinces, injury lawsuits were shared between the superior courts appointed by Ottawa and the lower courts appointed by provincial governments.

He found Eby’s reform did not invade the core jurisdiction of the Supreme Court as the primary guardian of the rule of law, playing a significant role in the development of the common law, and maintaining national unity.

Supported by Justice Bruce Butler, Bauman said that the current interpretation of Section 96 of the Constitution was considered more fluid than previously considered and permitted Eby’s change.

“In my view, the legislative scheme before the court represents an integrated, comprehensive effort at reform directed at a social mischief starkly identified by the other branches of government,” B.C.’s top judge explained.

The third member of the panel, Justice Elizabeth Bennett, dissented. She said the tribunal was being turned into a parallel court that undermined the uniformity of the judicial system, impermissibly stepping on the core jurisdiction of the superior court.

Bauman maintained that the B.C. Supreme Court retains significant involvement over personal injury and tort law, the court may also retain jurisdiction over the sort of motor vehicle claims involved, it plays a robust role on judicial review of CRT decisions, and the move furthers an important societal objective.

The scheme is an experiment with a new form of access to justice, Bauman said.

“It is a jurisdiction directed at injuries that presumptively, but not irretrievably so, are limited to $50,000 in total compensation at this time, a sum not appreciably greater than the current jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court in British Columbia,” Bauman wrote.

He said decisions about the “broad and important field” and compensation guidelines are still left to the Supreme Court.

“The law of negligence and compensation for damages suffered thereby will continue to be developed in the superior courts and will guide the CRT in the exercise of its jurisdiction.”

There is also a “safety valve,” he added — the Supreme Court retains jurisdiction over the ultimate determination of liability and damages.

“Its ‘essence’ as a superior court of general jurisdiction remains. I would allow the appeal.”

The Trial Lawyers Association of B.C., which launched the challenge, has not yet decided whether to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

“This case is about when provincial governments can take jurisdiction away from constitutionally protected courts and give it to a tribunal that they have created and staffed,” it said in a statement.

“What it means for British Columbians is whether they have a right to access an independent court or whether they are forced to instead seek justice from a government tribunal, including in cases where the government (in this case ICBC) is effectively a party,” it said.

The association’s “concern is that this judgment opens the door more widely to government encroachment on British Columbians’ ability to access justice in an independent court.” 

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth is now responsible for ICBC, and COVID-19 and other factors have greatly improved its bottom line.

imulgrew@postmedia.com

twitter.com/ianmulgrew


 
GOOGLE ADVERTISEMENT

Want direct access to the latest LITN content?

Stay in the loop ➞ Subscribe to LITN instant notifications.
Receive the latest content delivered directly to your device.
Unsubscribe at anytime.

Latest News

Subscribe

Join the LITN Newsletter ➞ the latest news delivered to your inbox. Unsubscribe at any time.


GOOGLE ADVERTISEMENT

Instagram Feed