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JR - Not Applicable to Superior Courts Decisions. Salehi v. LeBlanc
In Salehi v. LeBlanc (Ont Div Ct, 2025) the Ontario Divisional Court clarified that there is no JR against orders of the Superior Court:[18] In my case management directions, I raised the concern that the Court of Appeal would have jurisdiction over an appeal from the orders Mr. Salehi seeks to have reviewed and that this court therefore would not exercise its jurisdiction to judicially review the underlying orders. On further consideration, there is a more fundamental issue, which is that this court does not have jurisdiction to judicially review a decision of an Ontario Superior Court judge: Bevan v. Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 2006 CanLII 10140 (ON CA), at para. 8; Kostiuk v. Liu, 2024 ONSC 3500, at paras. 4 and 5; Berentschot, at para. 10.
[19] As Charney J. stated in Berentschot, at para. 10:As indicated, the Divisional Court does not have jurisdiction to entertain an application for judicial review of a Superior Court Judge, but only those of an “inferior court”. This is by virtue of the definition of “statutory power of decision” in s. 1 of the Judicial Review Procedure Act (JRPA), which includes “the powers of an inferior court”. Judicial Review in the context of the JRPA is a public law concept that establishes a statutory court to review the decisions of tribunals and inferior courts (and other persons exercising statutory powers) to ensure that these tribunals respect the rule of law: Highwood Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses (Judicial Committee) v. Wall, 2018 SCC 26, at para. 13. [20] Decisions of Superior Court judges are subject to review by the Court of Appeal or the Divisional Court by way of appeal: ss. 6 and 19 of the CJA. As I indicated in my initial directions, an appeal in this case would lie to the Court of Appeal because the relief sought in the Statement of Claim would total more than $50,000. Paragraph 19(1.2)(c) of the CJA provides that, when the underlying order dismissed the claim, which is what happened in this case, this court has jurisdiction only if the claim sought a payment of not more than $50,000 exclusive of costs. . Kostiuk v. Liu
In Kostiuk v. Liu (Div Court, 2024) the Divisional Court noted that judicial reviews may not be used to challenge Superior Court decisions:[4] Ms. Liu, who is self-represented, initially commenced an Application for Judicial Review on June 10, 2024. On June 11, 2024 I sent a direction to the parties which included the following:One preliminary issue that is immediately apparent from the Notice of Application for Judicial Review is that the Applicant is seeking to judicially review the decision of a Superior Court Judge. The Corts have previously determined that the Divisional Court does not have jurisdiction to entertain an application for judicial review of a Superior Court Judge, see: Bevan v. Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 2006 CanLII 10140 (ON CA), at para. 8, and 1147335 Ontario Inc. v. Thyssen Krupp Elevator, 2012 ONSC 4139, at para. 10. Decisions of Superior Court may be appealed to the Divisional Court or the Court of Appeal depending on the nature of the Order to be appealed and whether leave to appeal must first be obtained: see sections 6 and 19 of the Courts of Justice Act.
The Applicant is encouraged to obtain legal advice to ensure that she has chosen the correct process to appeal from the decision of Justice Verner. [5] See also 9383859 Canada Ltd. v. The Court of Appeal for Ontario, 2023 ONSC 5344, at para. 10, per Schabas J:The Divisional Court, over which the Court of Appeal exercises appellate jurisdiction, has no jurisdiction to judicially review decisions of a “superior court of record”, but only those of an “inferior court”: Judicial Review Procedure Act, RSO 1990, c. J.1, s. 1.
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