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The Constitution of Canada and the Conflict of Laws Osgoode Hall Law School of York University Osgoode Digital Commons PhD Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2001 The onsC titution of Canada and the Conflict of Laws Janet Walker Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/phd Part of the Conflict of Laws Commons, and the Jurisdiction Commons Recommended Citation Walker, Janet, "The onC stitution of Canada and the Conflict of Laws" (2001). PhD Dissertations. 18. http://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/phd/18 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Osgoode Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in PhD Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Osgoode Digital Commons. THE CONSTITUTION OF CANADA AND THE CONFLICT OF LAWS Janet Walker A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Worcester College Trinity Term 2001 The Constitution of Canada and the Conflict of Laws Janet Walker, Worcester College Doctor of Philosophy Thesis, Trinity Term 2001 This thesis explains the constitutional foundations for the conflict of laws in Canada. It locates these constitutional foundations in the text of key constitutional documents and in the history and the traditions of the courts in Canada. It compares the features of the Canadian Constitution that provide the foundation for the conflict of laws with comparable features in the constitutions of other federal and regional systems, particularly of the Constitutions of the United States and of Australia. This comparison highlights the distinctive Canadian approach to judicial authority-one that is the product of an asymmetrical system of government in which the source of political authority is the Constitution Act and in which the source of judicial authority is the continuing local tradition of private law adjudication. The distinctive Canadian approach to judicial authority provides the foundation for federal arrangements that have obviated the need for explicit mechanisms for coordinating legal systems. It has fostered a distinctive view of court jurisdiction and of the means for determining both whether a particular court has jurisdiction to decide a matter and whether the court should exercise that jurisdiction. It has provided the foundation for a unified court system within the Canadian federation-one in which there is a strong commitment to the shared responsibility of Canadian courts to promote access to justice, to prevent forum shopping, and to resolve multiplicities of proceedings so as to secure the same respect for the administration of justice between jurisdictions as exists within jurisdictions. This approach to judicial authority has also encouraged Canadian courts to draw on their inherent jurisdiction to permit the vindication of the rights of members of the Canadian public through civil litigation, notwithstanding the lack of direct application of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and in spite of the apparent jurisdictional impediments. I am grateful for my advisor's patience, my family's support, my colleagues' encouragement, and my friend's inspiration, without which this would not have been written. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. THE REVELATION-THE PARADOX A. Introduction 1. The revelation-the paradox ................................................................................... 1 2 . The conflict oflaws as public law .......................................................................... .4 3 . Tue Canadian Constitution ...................................................................................... 8 B. Comparative Analysis 1. Possible bases for comparison ............................................................................... 11 2. Existing scholarship ............................................................................................... 12 3. Federalism and the conflict of laws ....................................................................... 19 C. Points of Comparison 1. Points of comparison ............................................................................................. 21 2. Mechanisms for coordination ................................................................................ 23 3. Legislative federalism ............................................................................................ 28 4. Judicial authority ................................................................................................. 32 5. Federalism and the courts ...................................................................................... 33 6. Constitutional rights .............................................................................................. 33 II. JUDICIAL AUTHORITY A. The Text 1. The lacuna .............................................................................................................. 34 2. Three branches of government? ............................................................................. 35 3. The structure of the Canadian Constitution ........................................................... 36 4. Vesting power in the branches of government ...................................................... 37 5. The judicature provisions ....................................................................................... 38 6. The preamble ......................................................................................................... 40 7. Continuing judicial authority ........................ ~: ........................................ ,............. .41 B. The Tradition 1. The intent and purpose of the constitutional provisions ....................................... .45 2. The politics and ideas of the times ........................................................................ .45 3. The common law and legal institutions of the times ............................................ .47 4. The civil law and American innovation ................................................................ .49 5. Quebec's social constitution and the Quebec Act ................................................. 51 6. Judicial authority, judicial power and models of private law ................................ 56 7. Judicial authority and the separation of powers ..................................................... 59 c. Judicial Authority and the Conflict of Laws 1. Rules for service out and codifications of court jurisdiction ................................. 63 2. Assumed jurisdiction and judgments regimes ....................................................... 64 3. Jurisdiction simpliciter and forum non conveniens ............................................... 66 4. Access to justice and multiplicity .......................................................................... 68 5. Appropriate forum, comity and the enforcement ofjudgments ............................. 71 6. Codifying court jurisdiction and judicial authority ................................................ 71 III. FEDERALISM AND THE COURTS A. Judiciaries in Federations B. A Federalized Judiciary 1. The American Federal Courts ................................................................................ 77 2. Diversity jurisdiction ............................................................................................ 80 3. The common law and the federation ...................................................................... 82 C. A Unified Court System 1. The Canadian Superior Courts ............................................................................... 85 2. The Federal Court of Canada ............. ;................................................................... 85 3. Cooperative federalism: Sections 96-100 .............................................................. 88 D. An Integrated Court System 1. The initial compromise .......................................................................................... 93 2. The emergence of the Federal Court ...................................................................... 95 3. The rejection of diversity jurisdiction ................................................................... 97 4. The cross-vesting scheme ...................................................................................... 98 5. Toward an integrated court system ...................................................................... 100 E. Federal Court Systems and the Conflict of Laws 1. Forum shopping ................................................................................................... 103 2. Juridical advantage .............................................................................................. 106 3. The burden of proof in motions for stays ............................................................ 108 4. Multiplicity .......................................................................................................... 111 IV. CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS A. Due Process 1. Linking personal jurisdiction to the due process clause ...................................... 126 2. Applying the minimum contacts doctrine ............................................................ 129 B. The Charter-Order and Fairness 1. Legal rights and mobility rights ........................................................................... 132 2. Applying the Charter-Charter values ................................................................ 134 C. Constitutional Rights and the Conflict
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