In Contacare Inc. v. CIBA Vision Corporation, 2011 ONSC 4276, Justice C. J. Brown of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice found and ordered that a New York State action determined by summary judgment, where it had been held that there was no issue requiring a trial in an action arising from a licensing agreement expressly governed by New York State law, should be recognized and enforced in Ontario. The New York summary judgment had been upheld by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, with further leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals of the State of New York having been denied. 

In so doing, Justice C. J. Brown found that the first stage of  Beals v Saldanha [2003] 3 S.C.R. 416, namely that the foreign court took jurisdiction according to Canadian conflict of laws rules, was satisfied, and that the second stage burden on the resisting party to establishing any applicable defence to enforcement (here natural justice was asserted) failed.  Justice C. J. Brown, followed Beals in finding that the natural justice defence is restricted to the form of the foreign process, to due process and not the merits of the case, and found (without any proferred evidence) that the summary judgment test in New York (described in New York State decision itself), and the decision without a trial in New York State courts, was not a denial of natural justice, noting that in both New York State and Ontario, summary judgment is granted where a court is satisfied that there is no trial required.  

Justice C. J. Brown further found that the subsequent Ontario action was a clear attempt to re-litigate the New York State action in Ontario and as such constituted an abuse of process and dismissed the Ontario action on that ground. 

David Alderson, LL.B, LL.M (admitted in New York State, but presently practicing only in Ontario, Canada) 

Heydary Hamilton PC has been involved in a substantial number of summary judgment motions, including a number of leading cases. Here is a sample of cases where we have acted for clients succeeding in motions for summary judgment: 

Bruno Appliance v. Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, 2010 ONSC 5490 

Harster Greenhouses v. Visser International, 2011 ONSC 2608

Brief informational summaries about commercial and other litigation matters in the courts of Ontario and other developments are periodically published on this website. They are intended to be a general comment or general discussion, not legal advice and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Should you require legal advice, please contact info@heydary.com or 416 972 9001.