introduced during trial and any other purpose with authorization of the court. In Québec, the parties cannot seek more than one expert per area or matter of expertise unless the court authorizes otherwise. If the parties deliver contradictory expert reports, the court can order the experts to meet to reconcile their opinions, identify the points that divide them and report to the court and the parties about the outcome of the meeting.
Normally, the only option available to a party following a final judgment is an appeal to a higher court.
JUDGMENTS, ORDERS AND APPEALS
Judgments and Orders Following trial, the court will issue a decision on the merits of the parties’ dispute. Decisions are generally rendered in writing. In Ontario, although the court decides the matter and issues reasons for judgment, it is generally the parties who draft the formal judgment and submit it to the court for approval and signature. In Québec, the judgment is drafted and issued by the court and signed by the presiding judge. In both Ontario and Québec, final judgments may be amended, set aside or varied, but only in limited circumstances. In Ontario, an order may be set aside or varied if it is established that the order was obtained by fraud or that new facts have been discovered that were not available at the time of trial and would very likely have affected the outcome. Similarly, in Québec, an order may be varied or set aside in any of the following circumstances: there was a defect in the procedure; the judge went beyond the conclusions sought or failed to rule on one of the essential grounds of the suit; judgment was rendered upon documents that were only subsequently discovered to be false or following fraud of the adverse party; or decisive documents were discovered since the judgment was rendered, although the party or its lawyer acted with due diligence.
Appeals Normally, the only option available to a party following a final judgment is an appeal to a higher court, which is allowed in most instances. In both Ontario and Québec, a judge will not hear an appeal from their own decision, nor participate on a panel hearing any such appeal. Further, in both provinces, an appellate court has broad discretion to make any order it considers just on the appeal, including setting aside the decision below and substituting its own judgment, referring the matter back to the same or a new judge for a subsequent hearing or determination, or dismissing the appeal altogether. Generally, an appellate court will give significant deference to findings of fact made by the trial judge or a jury, and will only overturn such a finding when it is plainly wrong and constitutes a palpable and overriding error. Pure findings of law are afforded less deference and generally will be overturned if they are found to be incorrect. Findings of mixed law and fact are typically entitled to the same level of deference accorded to findings of fact.
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Doing Business in Canada
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