What is the law on adjournment when a witness fails to attend to give evidence?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from R. v. Collinge, 2015 BCPC 111 (CanLII):
The law with respect to what a judge ought to consider when a witness does not attend to give evidence is set out in Darville v. The Queen, [1956] S.C.J., S.C.J., No. 82. That is the leading case and continues to be the leading case on the conditions that must ordinarily be met in order to entitle a party to an adjournment where a witness is unavailable: (a) the absent witness must be a material witness in the case; (b) the party who is applying for the adjournment must not have been guilty of laches or neglect in omitting to endeavour to procure the attendance of the witness; and (c) there must be a reasonable expectation that the witness can be procured at the future time to which it is sought to put off the trial.
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