CASTRO ROSALES v ASFOUR

The Plaintiff sought an Order granting an extension of time to serve her Statement of Claim upon the Respondent. The Applicant filed her Statement of Claim on September 20, 2024 and did not serve her claim within the appropriate time. In October 2025, the Plaintiff made an ex parte application to extend the time for service of the Statement of Claim on the basis that she had not been able to do so over the past year due to a no contact order that was in place between the parties. She also claimed that she could not give the Defendant notice of her Application for the same reason. The Court facilitated service of the Application on the Defendant, and the Application was heard with submissions by both parties.

The Plaintiff took the position that the no contact order constituted a “special or extraordinary circumstance”, as contemplated by Rule 3.27(1)(c), and the circumstances justified the extension of time for service. Her position was that if she attempted to serve the Defendant, she ran the risk of breaching the no contact order.

The Court held that Rule 3.27 requires a causal connection between the special circumstances and the conduct of the Defendant or a third-party. In the present case, the delay in service was not attributable to the conduct of the Defendant and there was no third-party alleged to be responsible. It was also noted that the Plaintiff made no attempt to seek an exception to the no contact order. Had the Plaintiff sought an exception and been refused, it could be argued that the refusal was the conduct of a third-party. However, based on the Plaintiff’s conduct (or lack thereof) the only impediment to her ability to serve the Defendant was her own inaction.

The Application for an Order permitting the extension of time for service was dismissed.