Case information

Judgments and orders — Summary judgments — Access to justice — Mortgages — Residential Property — Writ of possession — Associate Judge of Ontario Superior Court of Justice granting mortgagee leave to issue writ of possession in regards to residential property — Court of Appeal quashing appeal for want of jurisdiction and not transferring appeal to a lower court with statutory jurisdiction — Whether rule of law, access to justice, procedural fairness, or constitutional limits on private actors should influence or control court processes — Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C-43, ss. 17(a), 19(1)(c).

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Mr. and Mrs. Kakoutis defaulted on a mortgage agreement and credit agreement with the Bank of Nova Scotia. As security for the agreements, a mortgage had been registered against title to their residential property. The Bank of Nova Scotia served a Notice of Sale Under Mortgage and applied to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for leave to issue a writ of possession. An Associate Justice of the Superior Court of Justice granted leave to issue a writ of possession. Mr. and Mrs. Kakoutis appealed to the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal quashed the appeal. It held that appeals from interlocutory decisions of Associate Justices of the Superior Court of Justice lie to the Superior Court of Justice and appeals from final decisions of Associate Justices lie to Divisional Court, pursuant to ss. 17(a) and 19(1)(c) of the Courts of Justice Act, therefore it lacked jurisdiction to hear the appeal. The Court of Appeal also declined to transfer the appeal to another court because Mr. and Mrs. Kakoutis did not request a transfer.