Superior Court judges can sit outside their home provinces, the Supreme Court held today. This decision will facilitate the management of national class actions and other inter-provincial litigation in Canada. The issue arose in connection with the national settlement in the tainted blood class action that was approved in 1999. Class counsel wanted to extend the time for filing claims for benefits from the settlement funds. Since the court-approved settlement assigned supervision of the settlement to courts in BC, Ontario, and Quebec, the motion had to be brought before all three courts, and all three courts had to agree on the ... [more] Full article