505 Private International Law (Acorn)

LAW 505 [formerly 454]

Private International Law

(Acorn)

Prerequisite courses: 

Prerequisite for: 

Instructor(s): Professor Annalise Acorn

Course credit: 3

Method of presentation: Lecture

METHOD OF EVALUATION

100% Final

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In this course we look at the body of law that deals with private law disputes that take place in or are connected to more than one jurisdiction. Tort, contract, family law or wills and estates disputes can all have an international element. In our age of globalization more and more legal disputes have what we call a foreign element. Consider for example a case in which a traveller from Alberta stays in a hotel in Havana, Cuba and is seriously injured as a result of the negligence of hotel employees. Would that injured Albertan be able to sue in Alberta? Or would they have to sue in Cuba? If they could sue in Alberta would Albertan or Cuban tort law apply to the case? Which jurisdiction would govern the quantum of damages? Would the Cuban courts enforce an Alberta court’s judgment against the Cuban defendant?  In this course we will address these kinds of questions. The three basic questions we will look at then are as follows. 1. Which country’s courts have jurisdiction to hear a case where parties, property and action are in multiple jurisdictions? 2. Which country’s laws should be applied to the substance of a dispute when things have happened, or parties and property are situated, in more than one country? 3. When will the courts of one country participate in the enforcement of a judgment granted by the courts of another country?

SPECIAL COMMENTS

Description updated 2018-19. Please contact the instructor for any specific questions you may have related to this particular course section.

REQUIRED TEXTS (IF ANY):

TBA