“In 2013, Justice Czutrin commented that unresolved issues of disclosure are one of the key factors in delay, unproductive court attendances and getting to a point of serious settlement discussions or, if necessary, in the very few cases that need to go or in fact end up in trial. See English v. Dixon, 2013 ONSC 8043. This comment is just as relevant and problematic today as it was at the time of the decision.
Although full and frank disclosure is a necessary component of family law litigation, exhaustive disclosure may not always be appropriate. Courts and parties should consider the burden that disclosure requests bring on the disclosing party, the relevance of the requested disclosure to the issues at hand, and the costs and time to obtain the disclosure compared to its importance: see Chernyakhovsky v. Chernyakhovsky, 2005 CanLII 6048 (ON SC), 137 A.C.W.S. (3d) 988 (ONSC) at paras. 8 and 15. Disclosure orders must be fair to both parties and appropriate to the case.
As Perell J. held in Boyd v. Fields, [2007] W.D.F.L. 2449 (ONSC) at paras. 12-14:
Full and frank disclosure is a fundamental tenet of the Family Law Rules. However, there is also an element of proportionality, common sense, and fairness built into these rules. A party’s understandable aspiration for the utmost disclosure is not the standard. Fairness and some degree of genuine relevance, which is the ability of the evidence to contribute to the fact-finding process are factors. I also observe that just as non-disclosure can be harmful to a fair trial, so can excessive disclosure be harmful because it can confuse, mislead or distract the trier of fact’s attention from the main issues and unduly occupy the trier of fact’s time and ultimately impair a fair trial.
Finally, Justice Benotto in Roberts v. Roberts, 2015 ONCA 450 (CanLII) stated:
Failure to abide by this fundamental principle impedes the progress of the action, causes delay and generally acts to the disadvantage of the opposite party. It also impacts the administration of justice. Unnecessary judicial time is spent, and the final adjudication is stalled.”