Conflicts of Law and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments

Supreme Court of Canada sets the rules on when Canadian courts have jurisdiction

Kenneth A. Dekker
Affleck Greene McMurtry LLP April 18th, 2012

Earlier today, Canada's Supreme Court released a trilogy of long-awaited decisions in which it set universal rules on when courts across Canada can properly take jurisdiction over claims against foreign defendants. The first two cases, Club Resorts Ltd. v. Van Breda et al. and Club Resorts Ltd. v. Charron et al., related to claims brought against the operator of a resort in Cuba at which the plaintiffs had suffered serious injuries. The third case, Breeden et al. v. Black, related to defamatory statements made about Conrad Black by persons in the U.S. In all cases, the Ontario-based plaintiffs sought to [...] Full article

Court of Appeal reconsiders test for jurisdiction over foreign defendants

David N. Vaillancourt and Kenneth A. Dekker
Affleck Greene McMurtry LLP April 19th, 2010

In a recent decision, a five judge panel of the Court of Appeal for Ontario revised the legal test to be applied when the Ontario courts are asked to assume jurisdiction over a foreign defendant. The Court’s decision in Van Breda v. Village Resorts Ltd. clarifies the applicable legal principles and should provide greater guidance to Ontario courts on whether and when they can properly take jurisdiction over foreign defendants. Full article