Can a plaintiff's action be dismissed if they fail to attend the trial?
Ontario, Canada
The following excerpt is from Baradaran v. 6325955 Canada Inc., 2022 ONSC 1564 (CanLII):
The court has discretion to dismiss a plaintiff’s action for failure to attend the trial: subrule 52.01(2)(c) of the Rules; Armour v. Bate, [1891] 2 Q.B. 233 at 235 (C.A.) [Armour v. Bate].
The plaintiff bears the onus of proof and where the plaintiff fails to appear, or in this case fails to participate in his own trial, the plaintiff is unable to discharge that onus. As the plaintiff bears the burden of proof, a defendant may obtain an order dismissing the action without adducing any evidence that exonerates the defendant: Abrams, McGuinness, Canadian Civil Procedure Law, 2nd Ed., §16.68; Armour v. Bate, supra.
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