ABSTRACT
This article seeks to define procedural disproportionality and understand its causes, using Ontario as a case study. The essential problem is that too many resources are spent on civil disputes that do not merit the expenditure. The first Part of this paper introduces ID Inc v Toronto Wholesale Produce Association, an Ontario civil action which illustrates the problem, and then offers a definition of procedural disproportionality. Part 2 identifies two distinct aspects to the problem: systemic disproportionality and internal disproportionality. Part 3 follows a standard civil action in the Canadian province of Ontario from beginning to end, finding sources of disproportionality in nine phases of the procedure. Part 4 concludes, arguing that a lack of evidence-based design and management has led to a pervasive lack of proportionality in Ontario’s civil justice system. For students and reformers of civil procedure worldwide, the case study of Ontario’s disproportionality problem may provide a diagnosis that resonates, or contrasts, with local conditions elsewhere.
Semple, Noel, The Fat Columns Problem: Disproportionality in Civil Litigation (October 8, 2026).
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