This was an Application by the National Self-Represented Litigants Project (the “NSRLP”) for leave to intervene in an Appeal regarding the Court of Queen’s Bench process and test for restricting a litigant’s access to the Courts.

Greckol J.A. confirmed that Rules 14.37 and 14.58 allow a single Appellate Judge to permit a party to intervene in an Appeal and to impose conditions on the intervention. Greckol J.A. then confirmed that the Court must assess whether the proposed intervenor has an interest in the subject matter of the Appeal by assessing: (a) whether the intervenor will be directly and significantly affected by the Appeal’s outcome, and (b) if the intervenor will provide some expertise or fresh perspective on the subject matter that will be helpful in resolving the Appeal.

The Court ruled that the NSRLP met both criteria. Its mandate is to further the interests of self-represented litigants and it had conducted numerous studies regarding self-represented litigants in the legal system. Therefore, Greckol J.A. ruled that the NSRLP would be affected by the outcome of the Appeal and that it would bring “an important and distinct perspective to some of the issues” in the Appeal.

The Court noted, however, that there was a concern that allowing NSRLP to intervene would result in new evidence being presented that was not part of the existing record, namely, empirical studies conducted or commissioned by the NSRLP. However, Greckol J.A. ruled that whether or not such new evidence would be admitted should be left to the Appeal Panel to decide.

The Application for leave to intervene was granted.