A quick judgment is not necessarily a good one, as Justice Frankfurter recognised in 1946 when he noted “mere speed is not a test of justice”. On the other hand, there comes a point when a case can languish so long it collapses.
The Supreme Court of Canada has just declined to hear an appeal in a dispute about tar spillage whose story began in 1924.
The case, brought by the Canadian National Railway, did not start its journey until 1989, when proceedings were issued, and has since then chugged slowly down the litigation track stopping occasionally in the sidings for years at a time.
Historically, coal was used to produce a combustible gas called “town gas” for municipal lighting and heating. Between 1924 and