In the decision Hryniak v. Mauldin, 2014 SCC 7 (CanLII), [2014] 1 SCR 87, https://canlii.ca/t/g2s18, the Supreme Court of Canada provides guidance to the interpretation of the amended Rule 20 Summary Judgement.

As a bit of context, we expect that a judge would decide who wins in a lawsuit in a trial. In Canada, the civil lawsuit also includes many pretrial steps, such as discovery, pretrial conferences and motions. As a result, many lawsuits last a long time and also incur a huge amount of costs.
So, instead of going through the whole lawsuit procedure which ends with a trial, the motion for summary judgement is an alternative whereby a dispute could be resolved faster and be less expensive. See Rule 20, using the link below.
The rule for summary judgement was amended in 2010. This case is therefore very important as it provides guidance on how Rule 20 should be used.

Speaker: Ethan Buckhalter
Osgoode Hall J.D. Candidate

Rules of Civil Procedure
https://canlii.ca/t/t8m

Here is an excerpt of Rule 20. (Please go to the Rule in the link above to read the entire rule.)
General

20.04 (1) Revoked: O. Reg. 438/08, s. 13 (1).

(2) The court shall grant summary judgment if,

(a) the court is satisfied that there is no genuine issue requiring a trial with respect to a claim or defence; or

(b) the parties agree to have all or part of the claim determined by a summary judgment and the court is satisfied that it is appropriate to grant summary judgment. O. Reg. 284/01, s. 6; O. Reg. 438/08, s. 13 (2).

Powers

(2.1) In determining under clause (2) (a) whether there is a genuine issue requiring a trial, the court shall consider the evidence submitted by the parties and, if the determination is being made by a judge, the judge may exercise any of the following powers for the purpose, unless it is in the interest of justice for such powers to be exercised only at a trial:

1. Weighing the evidence.

2. Evaluating the credibility of a deponent.

3. Drawing any reasonable inference from the evidence. O. Reg. 438/08, s. 13 (3).





Warning: The videos on Litigation Help are intended to provide general legal information only. They are not substitutes for legal advice from a legal professional. We do not warrant the accuracy of any of the information in the videos. They are entertainment, informational videos only meant to provide some context to common legal terms or doctrines. If you require legal help, please consult a professional directly.

For a full directory of videos, download it here from our Shop (free): https://litigationhelp.com/shop/