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Club Resorts Ltd. v. Van Breda

Club Resorts Ltd v Van Breda
Supreme Court of Canada
Hearing: 2011-03-21
Judgment: 2012-04-18
Citations 2012 SCC 17
Docket No. 33692
Prior history APPEALS from a judgment of the Ontario Court of Appeal (O’Connor A.C.J.O. and Weiler, MacPherson, Sharpe and Rouleau JJ.A.), 2010 ONCA 84, affirming a decision of Pattillo J., 2008 CanLII 32309 (ON SC), and affirming a decision of Mulligan J., 2008 CanLII 53834 (ON SC),(sub nom. Charron Estate v. Village Resorts Ltd.).
Ruling Appeals dismissed.
Holding
The court cannot decline to exercise its jurisdiction unless the defendant invokes forum non conveniens. The decision to raise this doctrine rests with the parties, not with the court seized of the claim. If a defendant raises an issue of forum non conveniens, the burden is on him or her to show why the court should decline to exercise its jurisdiction and displace the forum chosen by the plaintiff.
Court Membership
Chief Justice McLachlin C.J.
Puisne Justices Binnie, LeBel, Deschamps, Fish, Abella, Charron, Rothstein and Cromwell JJ.
Reasons given
Unanimous reasons by Lebel J.
Binnie and Charron JJ. took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

Club Resorts Ltd v Van Breda, 2012 SCC 17, is a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada that has brought greater certainty to the question of a real and substantial connection in the assumption of civil jurisdiction by Canadian courts in matters concerning the conflict of laws.

In separate cases, two individuals were injured while on vacation outside of Canada. Van Breda suffered catastrophic injuries on a beach in Cuba, and Charron died while scuba diving there. Actions were brought in Ontario against a number of parties, including Club Resorts Ltd., a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands, that managed the two hotels where the accidents occurred.

Club Resorts sought to block those proceedings, arguing that:

In both cases, the judges at first instance held that Ontario courts did have jurisdiction, and that an Ontario court was the more appropriate forum. The two cases were heard together by the Ontario Court of Appeal, where the appeals were both dismissed. Both were subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

In a 7-0 ruling, both appeals were dismissed.

Lebel J. observed that the case concerned the elaboration of the real and substantial connection test as an appropriate common law conflicts rule for the assumption of jurisdiction. In determining whether a court can assume jurisdiction over a certain claim, the preferred approach in Canada has been to rely on a set of specific factors which are given presumptive effect, as opposed to a regime based on an exercise of almost pure and individualized judicial discretion.

Jurisdiction must be established primarily on the basis of objective factors that connect the legal situation or the subject matter of the litigation with the forum. In a case concerning a tort, the following factors are presumptive connecting factors that, prima facie, entitle a court to assume jurisdiction over a dispute:

The list above is not an exhaustive one. In identifying new presumptive factors, a court should look to connections that give rise to a relationship with the forum that is similar in nature to the ones which result from the listed factors. Relevant considerations include:


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