In R. v. E.R. (Ont CA, 2024) the Ontario Court of Appeal considered the SOR applicable to credibility and reliability findings on appeal:
(1) Review of credibility and reliability findings of a trial judge
[4] The grounds of appeal raised by the appellant involve challenges to the trial judge’s credibility and reliability findings. As such, it is important to bear in mind the deference owed to a trial judge’s findings of credibility and reliability. An appellate court must review a trial judge’s reasons as a whole and functionally. Absent a palpable and overriding error or an error of law, an appellate court must not interfere with a trial judge’s credibility and reliability findings. An appellate court “must not finely parse the trial judge’s reasons in a search for error”: R. v. G.F., 2021 SCC 20, [2021] 1 S.C.R. 801, at paras. 69, 76-82; R. v. Kruk, 2024 SCC 7, 489 D.L.R. (4th) 385, at paras. 82-85.
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