The Appellant’s Application for an extension of time to Appeal parts of a Case Management Order was dismissed by Feehan J.A. The Appellant re-applied before Feehan J.A. for permission to Appeal His Lordship’s Decision to a panel of the Court of Appeal.

Rule 14.5(2) stipulates that a party who wishes to Appeal the Decision of a single Appeal Justice must secure that Justice’s permission before appealing to a three Justice panel of the Court of Appeal.

Permission to Appeal is granted “only if there is a compelling reason to require the applicant and respondent to reargue and three judges of the Court of Appeal to decide an issue”. Justice Feehan held that unless the Appellant could establish at least one of the following criteria, it was not in the public’s interest for a Court of Appeal panel to review His Lordship’s decision. The criteria required the Appellant to establish: (a) that a question of general importance to the community or of sufficient importance to the parties justified the allocation of the public and private resources associated with an Appeal; (b) a possible error of law; (c) an unreasonable exercise of discretion; or (d) a misapprehension of important facts.

The Appellant could not establish a compelling reason that justified another level of review and the Application for permission to Appeal was dismissed. Further, the Court noted that the Appeal of the Case Management Order lacked a reasonable chance of success because the Trial had already been decided, and the Trial Decision itself was under Appeal.