To What Extent does a Judge Need to Expound upon Witness Credibility in a Judge-Alone Trial?
A trial judge’s reasons cannot be read or analyzed as if they were an instruction to a jury. R. v. Morrissey (1995), 1995 CanLII 3498 (ON CA), An appellate court tasked with determining whether a trial judge gave sufficient reasons must follow a functional approach. R. v. Sheppard , 2002 SCC 26 (CanLII), [2002] 1 S.C.R. 869 , at para. 55 . An appeal based on insufficient reasons “will only be allowed where the trial judge’s reasons are so deficient that they foreclose meaningful appellate review”. R. v. Dinardo , 2008 SCC 24 (CanLII), [2008] 1 S.C.R. 788 , at para. 25 . The sufficiency of the reasons should be considered in light of the deference afforded to trial judges on credibility findings. Rarely will the deficiencies in the trial judge’s credibility analysis, as expressed in the reasons for judgment, merit intervention on appeal. Nevertheless, a failure to sufficiently articulate how credibility concerns were resolved may cons...