TORONTO - A man once charged with assault has launched a proposed class action against the Ontario government for allegedly failing to provide proper translation of court proceedings.
Avtar Sidhu claims dismal language interpretation during his trial breached his Charter rights and those of others in similar circumstances.
To back his claim, Sidhu cites the judge in his case, which resulted in a mistrial, who found the province's court services division had "ignored or abandoned'' his constitutional access to justice.
The judge also said the division was "recklessly'' indifferent in failing to provide adequate translation and called it "statistically inevitable'' that there were undiscovered miscarriages of justice as a result.
The claim seeks damages of $35 million on behalf of anyone in Ontario who has been hurt by poor translation in court.
None of the allegations has been proven and the claim has not been certified as a class action.
Sidhu was charged with four assault-related charges in 2001.
The case ended in a mistrial in 2005 after the Crown agreed there were serious issues with the translation provided by a long-standing court interpreter who had long been the subject of complaints.
