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Judges - Immunity. Elguindy v. Deputy Judge Aird
In Elguindy v. Deputy Judge Aird (Ont Div Ct, 2026) the Ontario Divisional Court considers judicial immunity:[24] Second, it is improper to name the judge as a party to a Judicial Review Application. On Judicial Review from a tribunal decision, for example, the court has held that an individual tribunal member should not be named in the Judicial Review (see: Heath-Engel v Seneca College, 2022 ONSC 4338 at para 14).
[25] Further, a judge is exempt from civil liability in the course of anything done or said by him in his judicial capacity (see: Rahman v Koehnen, 2025 ONSC 6580, at para. 9). Judicial immunity is quite broad. Even where a judge’s acts or words complained of are alleged to have been spoken in bad faith, maliciously, corruptly, or without reasonable or probable cause, they are not actionable: Morier and Boily v. Rivard, 1985 CanLII 26 (SCC), [1985] 2 SCR 716; McPherson v. Campbell, 2019 NSCA 23, at para. 24; Salasel v. Cuthbertson, 2015 ONCA 115, at para. 35; McIntosh v. Shore, 2024 ONSC 1767.
[26] Judges speak through their reasons and cannot be compelled to explain their reasons (see: AH v. CYFS, 2024 NLSC 146 at para 6, citing Mackeigan v Hickman, 1989 CanLII 40 (SCC). . R. v. Nnane
In R. v. Nnane (Ont CA, 2025) the Ontario Court of Appeal considers the sensible limitations of judicial immunity, here where the issue was the CCC 683 appeal admission of former counsel's (now judge) affidavit cross-examination:[9] This is not a case involving judicial immunity. The Crown does not seek to cross-examine Justice Derstine in relation to acts taken within his judicial role. That would clearly be off-limits, and no one suggests otherwise: see MacKeigan v. Hickman, 1989 CanLII 40 (SCC), [1989] 2 S.C.R. 796, at pp. 828-33; R. v. Swaine, 2025 ONCA 614, at paras. 8-9. ....
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