Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Fresh evidence in Child Welfare cases

Children's Aid Society of Toronto v. P.M., 2015 ONCA 695:

[22]       Fresh evidence should be admitted in child protection proceedings if: (a) it could not have been adduced before; (b) it is highly relevant in that it enables the court to make determinations on an accurate picture of the situation at hand; (c) it is potentially decisive as to the child's best interests; (d) it is credible; (e) it is uncontroverted; and (f) it bridges the gap between the evidence submitted in prior hearings and the appeal: Catholic Children's Aid Society of Metropolitan Toronto v. M. (C.), [1994] 2 S.C.R. 165, at p. 190. 

[23]       A flexible standard should be adopted for the admission of fresh evidence in family law cases involving children in circumstances where accurate and up-to-date information concerning the best interests of the child, when considered with the evidence adduced at trial, might reasonably affect the outcome of the appealChildren's Aid Society of Oxford Country v. W.T.C., 2013 ONCA 491, 308 O.A.C. 246, at para. 43.



Of the Law Societies of Upper Canada and Nunavut 

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