Fun and Interesting Judgments – Part 1: Martians in the legal justice system

From time to time, I have come across judgments which are both interesting and are often quite fun to read. I have collected a few of these over the years, and thought I might share them from time to time on this blog.

The first is the case of Joly v. Pelletier, [1999] O.J. No. 1728 (S.C.J.). (Unfortunately, given the dated nature of the case, it is not yet available for free online, but I will summarize it as best I can).

The plaintiff, Rene Joly, was described as “well-prepared” and “thoughtful” in his arguments to the court. He was “polite, articulate, [and] intelligent”.

The problem was that the plaintiff seemed to have a very honest belief that he was a Martian, which was the entire basis for his claims before the court.

What followed was an example of some excellent legal reasoning by the court.

The plaintiff explained to the court that he was a Martian, not a human being. He had been trying to take steps to establish himself as a Martian, and was complaining about various parties and authorities (both in Canada and the United States) interfering with his ability to do that. He had claimed to have gotten a DNA test done in order to prove to the court that he was, in fact, a Martian, but the results were interfered with and falsified by the Americans.

As a result of the allegations that the other parties were interfering with the plaintiff’s ability to live and express himself as a Martian, the plaintiff was suing various doctors, pharmacies, medical facilities, the Royal College of Dental Surgeons, the Central Intelligence Agency, President Bill Clinton, the Federal Minister of Health Anne McClellan, and others.

Well, the inevitable next step was for the defendants’ lawyers to apply to the court to have the statements of claim struck.

Justice Epstein (prior her appointment to the Ontario Court of Appeal) heard the application, and gave a legal analysis that was both logical and fascinating to read.

First, Epstein J. noted that the Rules of Civil Procedure only allowed for ‘persons’ to file a statement of claim. The only relevant statutory definition of the word ‘person’ is that it includes a corporation. Therefore, Epstein J. went on to apply the Oxford English Dictionary definition of ‘person’, which is “an individual human being”.

Justice Epstein then stated the following:

It follows that if the plaintiff is not a person in that he is neither a human being nor a corporation, he cannot be a plaintiff as contemplated by the Rules of Civil Procedure. The entire basis for Mr. Joly’s action is that he is a martian, not a human being. There is certainly no suggestion that he is a corporation. I conclude, therefore, that Mr. Joly, on his pleading as drafted, has no status before the Court.

In other words, as a result of this judgment, Ontario is now the only jurisdiction with a specific common law rule that Martians cannot file lawsuits in our courts. Brilliant!