Hello everyone.
Except for a brief addendum to an order made in a criminal matter, the Court of Appeal only released civil law decisions this week, which is rare. Topics covered included whether or not leave to appeal a vesting order made on a receivership sale under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act is required (it is), an ironic case in which a lawyer initially resisted a professional negligence claim for missing a limitation period by arguing the limitation period had been missed (nice try), insurance law and adjournments.
The French government has made the assessment that certain small commercial courts were regularly finding themselves confronted with cases of great complexity, only because the company in difficulty had its head office in the jurisdiction of these courts. It therefore announced the establishment of specialised commercial courts (TCS) which will process the most complex insolvency proceedings.
Hello again.
Most of the Court of Appeal civil decisions this week were procedural in nature. Topics included the standard of review of discretionary orders (deference), municipal law, leave to appeal and stays pending appeal in the CCAA context and the consolidation of appeals to the Court of Appeal as of right with Divisional Court appeals requiring leave.
Have a nice weekend.
Table of Contents
Civil Decisions
Pickering (City) v. Slade, 2016 ONCA 133
The Macron law of 7 August 2015, named after the current Minister of the Economy, anticipated the establishment of specialised commercial courts which will process the most complex insolvency proceedings. Currently, any of the 134 French commercial courts can be applied to; the choice being mainly the location of the distressed company’s headquarters. This new arrangement aims to improve efficiency and to increase the number of specialised judges (because in France, commercial judges are lay judges). The aim of the reform is to save jobs.
Hello again for another week,
Click here to read this article in French.
It is now possible for creditors and co-contractors of insolvent companies to take certain steps in French insolvency proceedings and make certain statements “online”.
Published in the middle of August, the 2015-1009 decree of 18 August 2015 could easily have gone unnoticed, if it hadn’t been expected for several months by us “technophile” practitioners.
A scandal in the world of letters and old manuscripts would not have gone unnoticed and the French case of Aristophil has lead to extensive press coverage; a massive fraud is suspected with thousands of works and hundreds of millions of euros at stake.
The Supreme Court of Canada, in a decision that has implications for borrowers and lenders alike, particularly where pension funds are involved, has raised some new hurdles for the country’s banks and their business customers and, at the same time, has bolstered protection for lenders of last resort who finance insolvent companies.
The court’s decision in Sun Indalex Finance, LLC v. United Steelworkers, issued earlier this year, addresses critical questions in insolvency law regarding pension funds and DIP financing.