Another Jury Conditionally Struck ' Mackenzie v. Pallister, 2021 ONSC 1840

• Published date: 30 March 2021
• Law Firm: McLeish Orlando LLP
• Author: Ms Lindsay Charles and Brandon Pedersen

The Superior Court of Justice released another decision earlier this month where the jury notice was conditionally struck.

Background

This motion was first heard in October 2020 by Boswell J. At that time, Boswell J. dismissed the motion but left it open to the plaintiff to re-initiate the motion in the event that the court suspended in-person hearings in the Simcoe-Muskoka courthouses or if the action had not been scheduled for trial prior to April 1, 2021.

In January 2021, the Superior Court suspended jury selection until at least May 2021. More recently, the Regional Senior Justice for the Central East region noted that in all likelihood, there will be no civil jury trials in the Central East region for the rest of 2021.

The plaintiff, therefore, renewed her motion to have the jury notice struck.

Legal Principles

McCarthy J. reviewed the legal principles underpinning jury strike motions in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic.

[6] Although the right to trial by jury is an important one, it is far from absolute. It is not a constitutional or quasi-constitutional...