What is the effect of counsel asking for an adjournment and recusal of a judge?

Ontario, Canada


The following excerpt is from Anderson v. Kehler, 2005 CanLII 13796 (ON SC):

It is further argued by counsel that, based on the principle of the decision in Young v. Young, 1993 CanLII 34 (SCC), [1993] 4 S.C.R. 3 (S.C.C.) “Courts, moreover, must be extremely cautious in awarding costs personally against a lawyer, given the duties upon a lawyer to guard confidentiality of instructions and to bring forward with courage even unpopular causes.” I agree with counsel that this is a very important principle, which has to be respected by the courts. However, this is not what happened here. Counsel on his own initiative asked for an adjournment. I do not consider it to be an act of courage or good faith to ask for an adjournment and request recusal of a judge for the sole reason that there is a perception that things may not be going well in the client’s Application. Courts must be ever vigilant not to condone such conduct on the part of counsel otherwise the authority and respect for the process will be greatly undermined.

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