Simplifying Court Jurisdiction in Canada

Abstract

The articulation of private international law in Canada continues to be largely a judge-led enterprise. Outside Quebec, where since 1994 there has been comprehensive codification of this domain, and putting aside some specialised areas, notably family law, where there have been significant statutory inroads, Canadian conflict of laws remains for the moment a mainly common law field. Areas which in England are now largely controlled by statute or EU regulation - such as choice of law in contract and tort, and, for the most part, adjudicatory jurisdiction and enforcement of foreign judgments - are in Canada still mostly governed by the common law.