Can a judge refuse to decide trials because of the poor quality of the evidence?
Alberta, Canada
The following excerpt is from Kempenaar v. Kempenaar, 2008 ABQB 476 (CanLII):
A trial judge cannot refuse to decide trials because of the poor quality of the evidence. But a chambers judge asked for interlocutory relief can, especially when the affidavits conflict (which they do to a considerable extent here). Some recent cases are reviewed in Garwood v. Garwood Est., 2007 MBCA 160, 37 E.T.R. (3d) 44 (paras. 52 ff.). Previous cases are collected in 2 Stevenson and Côté, Civil Procedure Encyclopedia, pp. 33-9 to 33-13 (Chapter 33, Part I, subparts 1-4) (2003).
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