Manitoba Law Reform Commission Report on Private International Law

A new publication from the Manitoba Law Reform Commission has come to my attention: Private International Law (January 2009):

"Until 1994 in tort actions, which are actions having to do with civil wrongs, such as negligence, trespass, and defamation, Canadian courts applied the law of the forum to the determination of substantive (as apposed to procedural) issues; that is to say, a Manitoba court applied the law of Manitoba."

"In 1994 the Supreme Court of Canada decided that courts are to apply the law of the country of the wrong, without exception. The decision has been criticized for not including a flexible exception of the general rule, where applying the law of the country of the wrong results in an injustice. The Commission recommends enactment of legislation codifying the Tolofson general rule, with some greater specificity, and empowering Manitoba courts in exceptional circumstances to apply some other law than the law of the country of the wrong in order to do justice."

(...)

"The Report recommends that Manitoba follow British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Yukon, and likely Alberta and Ontario, to enact the model Act of the Uniform Law Conference of Canada titled the Uniform Court Jurisdiction and Transfer Proceedings Act."

That Act is available on the site of the Uniform Law Conference of Canada.

The full report of the Manitoba Law Reform Commission in PDF format is available on the Commission website.