00:00It was a tragedy that claimed three lives and forever changed one family.
00:07On July 29, 2014, Mahadev Ramcharan, his wife Nanda, and their 13-year-old son Nairon were killed
00:16when a BK Holdings truck crossed the median of the Uriah Butler Highway and landed on their vehicle.
00:24Their two surviving sons were left orphaned.
00:27Although legal proceedings were started years ago, those claims were later withdrawn.
00:33The claim has a complex legal history.
00:36In 2018, Nigel Ramcharan's older brother Rakesh was appointed to represent the estates of their deceased parents and younger brother
00:46and filed a lawsuit against another driver involved in the same crash.
00:51However, after a separate high court case found that BK Holdings' driver,
00:56not the defendants named in that lawsuit, was responsible for causing the fatal collision,
01:02the claim was withdrawn because it had been brought against the wrong parties.
01:06Justice Frank C. Passard, in his ruling today, later observed that there were several opportunities
01:12to add the correct defendants and suggested that poor legal advice may have contributed to the delay.
01:20Now, today, the court has granted one of the surviving children, Nigel Ramcharan,
01:26permission to continue the fight for compensation on behalf of the estates of his parents and brother.
01:32Justice C. Passard ruled that while the claim was technically filed outside the statutory limitation period,
01:40the court had the discretion to allow it to proceed in the interest of justice.
01:45The judge found Nigel Ramcharan should not bear the consequences of earlier legal decisions made by others.
02:04Justice C. Passard also found the defendants had not demonstrated that allowing the matter to proceed would cause any real
02:12prejudice.
02:13Instead, he noted the accident had already been the subject of years of litigation, investigations, and judicial findings.
02:20C. Passard said,
02:21The administration of justice is not advanced by the mechanical application of limitation periods where the very objectives those provisions
02:30seek to protect remain intact.
02:33Refusing relief would elevate chronology above justice and transform a statute intended to promote fairness into an instrument of unfairness
02:42and oppression.
02:44The judge said limitation laws are meant to promote fairness, certainty, and finality,
02:49not to become technical barriers that prevent deserving claims from being heard.
02:55He said,
02:55Justice must never become the prisoner of procedure.
02:59Although the court has found that the instant claim was statute barred,
03:03it has exercised its discretion to disapply the limitation period and allow the matter to proceed.
03:10The judgment also includes a wider discussion on the role of artificial intelligence in the justice system while acknowledging its
03:19usefulness for legal research.
03:21Justice C. Passard stressed that judicial discretion and the evaluation of evidence are constitutional responsibilities that must remain with judges.
03:29He said,
03:31He said,
03:58He said,
03:58He said,
03:58He said,
03:58The estate of the estate's of his parents and younger brother, 12 years after the crash that claimed their lives.
04:06Avishitavari, Rupinaraen, TV6 News.
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