Forum of Necessity Exception Used After Defendant’s Delay Creates Access to Justice Issue

Mitch Kitagawa and Christina Lachance

August 2015 Kelly Santini LLP, Ontario

In Ibrahim v Robinson, 2015 ONCA 21, the defendant brought a motion to dismiss the action for want of jurisdiction. The plaintiff had sued in Ontario for damages arising out of a motor vehicle accident in Michigan. The defendant waited until after the expiration of the three year Michigan limitation period to bring the motion to dismiss the action. The motion court judge relied on the forum of necessity exception to the real and substantial connection test to dismiss the motion. He found that the defendant effectively denied the plaintiff access to Michigan courts and may have lulled them into a false sense of security. The defendant appealed.