What is the substantive right of a trial judge to discharge the jury and complete the trial himself?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia v. British Columbia (Attorney General), 2016 BCSC 1391 (CanLII):
The substantive right discussed in King v. Colonial Homes is not synonymous with a Charter right. Cartwright J. was dealing there with a claim for property damage arising from a motor vehicle accident where the trial judge decided to discharge the jury and complete the trial himself as a result of a reference to insurance, which might have prejudiced the jury. Cartwright J. completed the passage referred to above with his conclusion that: … but I cannot think that a new trial should be directed by reason of a trial judge deciding to discharge the jury and complete the trial himself, even if the appellate court was satisfied that the course followed by the trial judge was wrong in law, if the court were also satisfied that any jury acting reasonably must inevitably have reached the same result as did the trial judge.
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