Abuse of Process Considered By the Federal Court
Tractor Supply Co. of Texas LP v. TSC Stores L.P., 2009 FCA 352 (Blais, C.J., Noël, J.A., Layden-Stevenson, J.A.)

December 1, 2009

James Buchan and Natalie Rizkalla-Kamel for the Appellants
Shawn D. Jacka for the Respondent

This was an appeal of an interlocutory decision of the Federal Court, which dismissed an appeal of a prothonotary’s decision dismissing the plaintiffs’ motion to strike portions of the defendant’s statement of defence and counterclaim.

The issue in this case concerned the abuse of process. In this regard, the plaintiffs argued that the Federal Court lacked the jurisdiction to consider the tort of abuse of process and that, in any event, the respondent had not plead the constituent elements to support the assertion of the tort.

The application judge reviewed the prothonotary’s decision and concluded that it was not plain and obvious that the respondent could not succeed given the existing state of the law. The Court of Appeal was not persuaded that the application judge erred in arriving at his conclusion. As such, the appeal was dismissed with costs.

By: Alexander Monic, Lawyer & Trade-mark Agent