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Civil Litigation Dicta - Costs - When Order Due. Rathod v. Chijindu
In Rathod v. Chijindu (Ont CA, 2024) the Ontario Court of Appeal discusses when a costs order is due, even when not specified:[12] Accordingly, I move to the first alternative remedy, which is to require the responding parties on this motion to pay the outstanding costs orders made by Roberts J.A.
[13] The responding parties say that I have no jurisdiction to make this order because it would be akin to varying Roberts J.A.’s costs orders. As she did not place a time limit on paying the costs, the responding parties suggest that I cannot now do so.
[14] I disagree.
[15] The responding parties’ submission implies that a costs order is in the nature of a suggestion that you should pay what you are ordered to pay when you feel that the time is right. Nothing could be further from the reality of the situation. With or without a deadline, when a costs order is made, it is a valid from the time it is made and must be paid, not at a future date convenient to the debtor, but right away and not later than 30 days from the date of the order. This accords with r. 57.03(1):57.03(1) On the hearing of a contested motion, unless the court is satisfied that a different order would be more just, the court shall,
(a) fix the costs of the motion and order them to be paid within 30 days; or
(b) in an exceptional case, refer the costs of the motion for assessment under Rule 58 and order them to be paid within 30 days after assessment. [16] While the Rule seems to suggest that the judge shall impose the 30-day deadline, an order that is silent on the issue is to be interpreted as having imposed that deadline: Sears v. Sears (2005), 2005 CanLII 5863 (ON SCDC), 195 O.A.C. 376 (Div. Ct.), at para 18; Bank of Nova Scotia v. Gillespie, 2008 CanLII 31415 (Ont. S.C.). Clearly, the presumption is that if an order is silent on the time within which it is to be paid, it is payable within 30 days. The order speaks from the moment it is made and the costs must be paid.
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[19] By making such an order, I am not amending Roberts J.A.’s order, I am simply ordering that the responding parties comply with her outstanding costs orders before their appeal is heard.
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