The Complex Commercial Litigation Law Review 4th Edition - Canada Chapter

Alan Mark and Mark Leonard authored the Canada Chapter of The Complex Commercial Litigation Law Review 4th Edition.

Overview from the Canada Chapter:

As a forum, Canada is well suited to the adjudication of complex commercial disputes. Parties are generally free to bring contract claims as they see fit, with frivolous suits discouraged by a costs regime that typically requires the losing party to pay a certain percentage of legal fees to the winning party. Canadian courts have generally remained 'open' during the covid-19 pandemic to resolve urgent commercial disputes, with the judiciary, registrars and counsel appearing digitally by videoconference.

Canadian law is subject to a distribution of legislative powers and responsibilities between the two main levels of government: federal and provincial. Contract law, as a matter of civil rights, is under provincial jurisdiction.

There are 10 Canadian provinces, each with its own court system and jurisprudential history. Although there are some differences between them, the laws of each province are informed by British common law, and generally the applicable principles align (with the exception of Quebec, a civil law jurisdiction that is not the subject of this chapter). Decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada are binding on all lower courts, further adding to the consistency of the Canadian scheme.