Although the United Kingdom comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, this guide relates only to the current position in England and Wales because Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own individual legal systems. The rules and procedure of the Civil Courts in England and Wales are contained in the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) which were introduced in 1999 and which lay down the framework within which all civil litigation must be conducted ...
On June 29, 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada, in a decision written by Judges McLachlin and Abella, reinstated the judgment of the Supreme Court of British Columbia and set aside the $100,000 award for punitive damages of the Court of Appeal. At the same time, it upheld the judgment rendered by the two lower courts and condemned Sun Life to pay the insured $20,000 in compensatory damages for mental distress caused by the breach of the disability insurance contract ...
In a long-awaited judgment, the Court of First Instance of the European Communities (“CFI”) partially upheld on December 14, 2005, the European Commission’s decision of July 3, 2001 to block the proposed acquisition of Honeywell International Inc. (“Honeywell”) by General Electric Company (“GE”). In its decision, the Commission had considered that the merger should be blocked for three sets of reasons ...
Since its creation by Decree-Law No. 10/2003 of January 18, the new Portuguese Competition Authority (“PCA”) has analysed more than 150 concentrations. It is said to analyse around 5 concentrations a month. In 2004 and 2005, the PCA reported 130 notified concentrations, 125 of which had issued decisions and 11 cases in which said decisions were reached following second phase proceedings ...
The courts have always considered Quebec’s class action legislation to be strictly procedural and not modifying substantive law. Normally a person can only sue if he has a legal relationship with the defendant, meaning that he has a personal right of action. Thus, in the case of Bouchard v. Agropur coopérative et al,1 Mr. Justice J. Viens refused to authorize Bouchard to institute a class action against dairies from which he had not purchased milk. However, Mr. Justice M ...
On December 31, 2005, amendments to Ontario’s Securities Act will come into effect to provide investors with a new recourse against companies and their directors, officers, employees and consultants for any misrepresentation in their public documents or public oral statements, or for failure to make timely disclosure of material changes in the company’s circumstances ...
The recent decision of the Court of Quebec, Small Claims Division, in the case of Spénard v. Promutuel Bois-Francs, société mutuelle d’assurance générale,1 revisited the issue of the right of an insurer to seek the nullity of an insurance policy based on an insured’s failure to disclose a prior conviction under the Young Offenders Act. The Plaintiff claimed $5,100 from his insurer for property stolen from his home between January 24 and January 27, 2003 ...
In the past days, two very important events at the Regional and National Level, honored the ADR mechanisms, specifically the mediation and arbitration proceedings. We refer to the First Central American Congress on Mediation and Arbitration organized by the Nicaraguan Chamber of Commerce and the Third National Congress on Mediation organized by the Office of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Division (DIRAC) of the Supreme Court of Justice ...
Background The return to democracy in October of 1982 arrived with a “social debt” derived from the days of the Siles Zuazo government, which, by giving way to the workers’ demands, caused Bolivia to enter into a hyperinflationary downward spiral. The Government of Siles Zuazo ended one year before the end of its term (as Mesa did), allowing Dr. Víctor Paz Estensoro to come to power through the general elections of 1985 ...
Irish Shell Limited v JH McLoughlin (Balbriggan) Limited, unreported High Court, 4 August 2005, Mr Justice Clarke This case is a good illustration of the application of the legal principles involved in granting an injunction while a related trial is pending (known as an interlocutory injunction). Facts: The plaintiff (Shell) sold a filling station in Balbriggan, County Dublin, to the defendant company in 2004 ...
On April 4, 2005, the Court of Appeal issued its decision in CGU v. The Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company and Axa Insurance1, which sheds new light on the right of a subrogated insurer to institute legal proceedings directly against the insurer of the person allegedly responsible for the loss. The decision also contains a discussion of the concept of solidarity between insurer and insured for the purposes of the interruption of prescription ...
On February 2, 2005, the Court of Appeal rendered judgement in L’Union-vie, compagnie mutuelle d’assurance v. Laflamme1, and allowed the appeal of Union-Vie, the defendant in the case. In the court of first instance, Union-Vie had been ordered to pay insurance proceeds of $200,000 further to the death, on September 27, 2001, of the Plaintiff’s spouse, pursuant to a life insurance policy issued on the basis of an insurance application dated October 23, 1998 ...
On March 18, 2005, the Quebec Court of Appeal handed down an important decision confirming that the evidence relating to the behaviour and practices of a “reasonable insurer” need not be provided by an expert witness. In CGU Compagnie d’assurances du Canada v. Sylvain Paul et al., (J.E. 2005-705), Justices Louise Mailhot, René Dussault and Marie-France Bich dealt with this issue in connection with an objection to evidence made by the attorney representing the insured, Mr ...
Armando Aznar J. of the Court of Québec recently rendered a harsh judgment against an insurance company.1 Although the amounts at stake were minimal, the decision may have a significant impact on insurers. This is one of the rare judgments where an insurer was ordered to pay exemplary and moral damages for having made allegations in the pleadings based on unjustified suspicions resulting in damages to the integrity and honesty of its insured ...
On May 10, 2005, the Court of Appeal held in Pierre Roy & Associés Inc. v. Bagnoud [2005] QCCA 492, that sums transferred by Ms. Bagnoud to Investors Services Ltd. (“Investors”) were a trust according to the agreements entered into between Ms. Bagnoud and Investors. This decision is one of the first interpretations by the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court decision in Bank of Nova Scotia v. Thibault.1 Facts In July 1998, after her employment was terminated, Ms ...
In case of a dispute arising between the parties, it may be advisable initially to solve it without the recourse to the courts, i.e. through sending a letter - claim or a warning, signing the court approved settlement agreement, obtaining an executive record of the notary public according to promissory notes or cheques, whether protested or not, or by seeking compromise through negotiations, etc. If the parties fail to solve a dispute amicably, the dispute may be referred to the courts ...
The Fifth Circuit has issued an important opinion on Section 11 of the Securities Act which may limit the potential exposure of issuers and other participants for alleged misrepresentations and omissions in public offering registration statements. The Court’s opinion in Krim v. pcOrder.com, Inc ...
On February 8, 2005, the Court of Appeal issued two judgments1 that clarify the burden of proof of the parties with respect to the nullity of an insurance contract. These two judgments are all the more interesting given that they deal with the issue of the impact of criminal history on the moral risk that the insured or the prospective insured poses for an insurer. The Rouette judgment, written by Mr ...
This article was originally written for the April 2005 issue of The Negotiator, the magazine of the Canadian Association of the Petroleum Landman. Protected by Copyright 2005 ...
On May 14, 2004, the Superior Court rendered judgment in Landry vs. L’Union Vie, Compagnie mutuelle d’assurance1 and allowed the action of the Plaintiff, Ms. Lucie Landry, in which she claimed $50,000 in insurance proceeds following the death of her brother on October 26, 2000, pursuant to a life insurance policy issued by Union Life on July 28, 2000. The case is currently under appeal. The Facts On July 28, 2000, Union Life Mutual Assurance Co ...
Murray Campbell Lawson Lundell Craig Ferris Lawson Lundell This is a general overview of the subject matter and should not be relied upon as legal advice or opinion. For specific legal advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact your legal counsel. Copyright © 2004, Lawson Lundell All Rights Reserved INTRODUCTION Since the mid-1980s litigation has been a fact of life for pension and employee benefit plan administrators and sponsors ...
In The Euromoney Global Insurance Handbook 2004, Delphi & Co worked on the Swedish Ministry of Justice’s bill for a new Insurance Contract Act, which was heavily criticised in Sweden at the time. On May 19, 2004, after more than 10 years of processing, the Swedish Government presented a slightly modified bill for the Swedish Parliament (“the Bill”) ...
Foreign insurers are currently permitted to provide services in 15 major Chinese cities; all geographical restrictions should be removed by the end of the year. Domestic insurers are now permitted to establish sales and distribution outlets in all locations where they have branches ...
It has not been a secret that confidentiality and the possibility of investing less resources (time and money) in the conflict resolution are the most used strategies in the promotion and integration of the mediation process into the formal system ...
Commonly, conflicts are settled by a judicial organ, through which a legal expert issues a resolution according to legal criteria and provisions. Nowadays, the options to resolve conflicts are not only limited to the decision of a Judge, but there are alternative means characterized for being voluntary, confidential, economical, and expedite. These means are generally known as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), which mainly include arbitration, mediation, and conciliation ...
