Witness Exclusion Order (LTB)

Caselaw.Ninja, Riverview Group Publishing 2021 ©
Date Retrieved:	2024-04-28
CLNP Page ID:	2217
Page Categories:	[Evidence Law]
Citation:	Witness Exclusion Order (LTB), CLNP 2217, <https://rvt.link/66>, retrieved on 2024-04-28
Editor:	Sharvey
Last Updated:	2023/05/30

Capocci v. York Catholic District School Board, 2009 HRTO 1956 (CanLII)

[9] The respondents’ request is granted. It is well-established that courts and tribunals have the discretionary power to exclude witnesses from the court or hearing room until such time as it is necessary for them to give their evidence, and, upon the request of a party, will normally grant such an order: The rationale for making such an exclusion order is as follows:

The purpose of excluding witnesses is to preserve a witness’ testimony in its original state. A witness listening to the evidence given by another may be influenced by the latter’s testimony, and accordingly change his evidence to conform with it. Also, by being present in the courtroom and listening to testimony prior to giving his evidence, he or she may be able to anticipate, and thereby reduce the effectiveness of, the cross-examination that will ultimately be faced. It may also facilitate collusion by allowing a witness to tailor the evidence to fit that of another. An order excluding witnesses seeks to eliminate this potential unfairness. Moreover, exclusion of witnesses may reveal earlier collusion. The similarity of language and phrases used may expose the fact that the witnesses had compared their version of events and memorized consistent stories: Asad v. Kinexus Bioinformatics, 2008 BCHRT 293 (CanLII) at paras. 753-754 and Sopinka, Lederman and Bryant: The Law of Evidence in Canada, 2nd ed. (Markham: Butterworths, 1999) at para. 16.14.