In Kadiri v. Harikumar, 2016 ONSC 330 the Ontario Divisional Court ruled that the Kruzick J. of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice correctly declined to exercise his jurisdiction to transfer the plaintiff's appeal from the Divisional Court to the Ontario Court of Appeal.
The plaintiff's action was dismissed by Myers J. on August 4, 2015. The plaintiff then appealed to the Divisional Court. Kruzick J. held that the Divisional Court did not have jurisdiction to hear the appeal pursuant to section 19(1) of the Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.43. That is, the amount claimed in damages – $15 million – far exceeded the Divisional Court's monetary jurisdiction of $50,000. Since the Court of Appeal, not the Divisional Court, was the correct venue for the appeal, Kruzick J. dismissed the appeal.
The plaintiff then brought a motion to the Divisional Court to vary or set aside Kruzick J.'s Order on the basis that Kruzick J. had erred in failing to exercise his discretion to transfer the appeal to the Court of Appeal. However, the appellant had not requested this relief in the Notice of Motion before the Divisional Court, nor had he sought this relief before Kruzick J, despite being aware of the jurisdictional problems. In light of these facts, the Divisional Court saw no basis to set aside or vary the Order and dismissed the motion.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
