The judge’s life is a life of struggle — the struggle to decide fairly between contending parties and positions; and the struggle to explain the reasons for that decision, our focus tonight. [...] Dissents should clearly state the issue of law on which the dissent is based and clearly discuss the reasons why the judge is dissenting on the chance the matter may go to the Supreme Court of Canada, and in any event, to lay the foundation for future legal development. [...] We leave correction of error — the application of settle law to the facts — to the provincial Courts of Appeal. [...] And I insist, always, that all the arguments of the losing party are frankly and fully addressed — perhaps the greatest check against an incorrect conclusion, and the greatest assurance to the loser and the public that the process was honest. [...] Often in provincial courts of appeal and always at the Supreme Court of Canada, the audiences include the parties, the parties’ lawyers, interveners, legal practitioners, legal academics, the press and the general public.
- Pages
- 14
- Published in
- Canada
