The Risks of Self Representation

Recently an individual represented himself in a wrongful action before the Ontario Court of Appeal. He was appealing the decision of Mr. Justice Morgan from November 28, 2012 dismissing the action [Musoni v. Logitek Technology Ltd., 2012 ONSC 6782].

The decision of Morgan J. outlines a number of other proceedings brought by Musoni, including a complaint against a lawyer who had been referred to him by the defendant, as well as a human rights application.

No mention was made in either judgment of what have been found to be fatal errors in termination clauses of this sort in numerous other judgments. Whether or not the trial court and/or the Court of Appeal were made aware of the clear law in this area they neither discussed nor applied it. Clearly, Musoni was not aware of it.

Musoni had costs awarded against him both at trial and at the Court of Appeal. According to the facts as articulated by Morgan J., he should have won!

In Canadian law, a reasonable apprehension of bias is a legal standard for disqualifying judges and administrative decision-makers for bias. Bias of the decision-maker can be real or merely perceived.

I am constantly hearing that "ignorance of the law is no defence". In my opinion, one would expect that the Judges and Courts would be knowledgable in All of the Law and apply it equally no matter what.