FOLLOW UP ON CONSEICAO FARMS V. ZENECA CORP. AND LEAVE TO APPEAL TO THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA
In yesterday’s blog, I wrote about the recent case of Conceicao Farms Inc. v. Zeneca Corp., [2007] 83, O.R. (3d) 792, www.canlii.org, decided by the Ontario Court of Appeal. As I noted, this case is a good reminder of the care and focus required during the discovery process when seeking disclosure of findings, opinions and conclusions of another party’s expert.
The Ontario Reports dated July 27, 2007 indicate that an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada (“S.C.C.”), www.scc-csc.gc.ca, for this case was filed on November 17, 2006 and submitted to that Court February 12, 2007. It appears that the S.C.C.’s decision granting or dismissing this Application has yet to be released.
In the normal course a respondent is given the opportunity to respond before the application is submitted to the Court.
Leave may be granted when the S.C.C. finds that the case raises an issue of public importance and ought to be decided by the S.C.C. The case must then raise an issue that goes beyond the immediate interest of the parties to the case.
Applications for leave are usually decided by a panel of three judges of the Court.
According to the S.C.C. website, as many as 600 applications for leave are filed each year with the Court granting leave to approximately 70 applications per year, touching upon a variety of legal issues.
As part of the application seeking leave to appeal, a party must, among other things, complete the detailed requirements for such applications further to Rule 25 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Canada. Aside from a notice of application for leave to appeal and other documents, a memorandum of argument must be filed.
It will be interesting to see if the appellants in the Conseicao Farms Inc. matter will be able to persuade the panel of S.C.C. judges that the case raises an issue of public importance beyond the immediate interest of the parties.
Thanks for reading.
Craig.
