Case Management

Case Management is designed to permit the Chief Justice to assign a judge to manage an appeal that is complex, or slow moving, or for some other reason requires ongoing management by a judge. The case management judge gives direction and oversees progress of the appeal and all matters arising prior to the hearing to ensure that the matter proceeds to trial in a timely, efficient and effective way.

Case management judge may be appointed where:

  • there are groups of appeals with common facts, issues or questions of law;
  • there is significant quantum in dispute;
  • there are significant or novel issues to be considered;
  • where an appeal is slow moving; or
  • when the Chief Justice is of the view that the appeal(s) ought to be case managed.

If a case management judge is appointed, the parties will receive an order from the Chief Justice indicating the name of the case management judge. Once appointed, the case management judge will likely hold a case management conference and deal with all pre-trial matters.

A case management judge is often appointed to manage a group of appeals. What is a group of appeals? Within the context of our court, groups of appeals are appeals of otherwise unrelated taxpayers who, for organizational efficacy, become part of larger group because they have a common denominator (either a question of law, a question of fact or a question of mixed law and fact).

The case management process applies to groups as it does to any other file. The Chief Justice will decide if the group warrants the appointment of a case management judge and if it does, the parties will receive an order indicating the name of the case management judge as well as a letter from the Registry informing them of the group creation.

Often times, one or more lead cases are chosen to move forward while the rest of the cases will receive a letter asking them if they agree to be bound   by the final outcome in the lead cases. When you agree to be bound by the lead cases, your appeal will be stayed pending a decision on the lead appeals heard by the Court.