When will a learned chambers judge be able to give judgment based on the statements of counsel as to evidence?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Nichols v. Gray, 1978 CanLII 407 (BC CA):
The learned chambers judge had all of the usual information upon which to decide a motion of this kind. He wished for more, as judges often do, but in the end the decision had to be made on the material at hand. That included statements from counsel. I am not sure what the chambers judge meant when he said, “I cannot give judgment based on the statements of counsel as to evidence”, but 1 presume that he did not mean that counsel's statements were to be ignored in a case such as this. Judges have always taken such statements into account and given them such weight as seemed appropriate: see for example the judgments of Dryer J., 8th June 1978 (not yet reported), and of this court (being handed down today) in Cook v. Ring. I think that it would be a mistake to limit the power of a chambers judge to consider what counsel had to say about the pending trial.
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