Our litigation system in Alberta is based on an "adversarial system" where two lawyers each strongly advocated their clients' respective position.
The Court in the case of Patel v Patel, 2020 ABQB 613 briefly considered the adversarial nature of litigation. The Court said at 29:
[29] Civil litigation is an adversarial process. A participant in civil litigation must expect that the opposing lawyer questioning him will require, and will be forceful in requiring, that the question be answered and not avoided and that the questioning lawyer may ask questions which convey or suggest that the questioning lawyer does not believe the answers given by the party being examined. It does not violate civility conventions for a lawyer conducting Questioning to do either. If a question is not proper or if there is something improper in the manner of the questioning lawyer, the witnesses’ counsel will object. Eventually, if the point is important, the objection can be heard by a judge...
If you have a question about the adversarial system in Alberta, please feel free to contact us.
The information contained in this article is not legal advice. No solicitor client relationship is formed through this article. The reader is encouraged to retain counsel for advice in these matters.
Commentaires