In a personal injury action, can a trial judge intervene to clarify witness testimony?

A trial judge may intervene to clarify witness testimony in order to understand the evidence. A trial judge may assist litigants by directing them away from irrelevancies and indicating what issues are determinative of the matter, or by asking the litigant to focus their questioning of witnesses on legally relevant factual issues. A trial judge may take control of the proceedings when a litigant argues with a witness instead of asking questions, where litigants delay proceedings by repeating the same evidence, or where litigants insist on repeatedly focusing on irrelevancies. The appropriate frequency and forcefulness of interventions will depend on the individual litigant; some will require more assistance than others. The manner in which proceedings should be conducted is left to the discretion of the trial judge. Garry v. Pohlmann et al., at paras. 48-51.

However, where judicial conduct prevents or significantly interferes with a litigant’s ability to place his or her case before the court, such that the defendant is prevented from having a full and fair opportunity to place his defence and counterclaim before the court, then the appellate court should order a new trial. Garry v. Pohlmann et al., at paras. 49-51.