NATIONAL CIVIL LITIGATION MEETING
REPORT TO CBANB
April 17, 2007
The undersigned represented our New Brunswick Section when the National Civil Litigation Executive Committee met in Montreal on April 13th 2007. Following are the main points which arose from that meeting.
"CCIR PROPOSAL: PRIVILEGE AND WHISTLE-BLOWER PROTECTION"
The Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators is an inter-jurisdictional association of regulators of insurance from across Canada (in most provinces, this is the Superintendent or Deputy-Superintendent of Insurance, or of "financial institutions" for the province concerned). The CCIR has a "Working Group On Privilege", which has, as an ongoing project, been seeking to develop legislative standards for "Whistle-Blower Protection" and a legislative template regarding privilege protections for "Insurance Compliance Self-Evaluative Audits" and associated documents. The National Insurance Law Section and the National Civil Litigation Section of CBA have been engaged in an ongoing dialogue with the CCIR regarding outstanding concerns which CBA has regarding the proposed extension of evidential privilege, and the nature of protection to be accorded to "Whistle-Blowers", as well as the documentation involved. The joint response of the two CBA sections to CCIR is that further work is needed on the proposals in these areas, but that CBA be willing to continue to work and cooperate in these matters.
BRANCH REPORTS
The portion of the Council meeting devoted to oral reports from each province included a great deal of discussion regarding the various formats of "simplified procedure rules" which have been introduced in a number of provinces, and the difficulties being experienced by practitioners in coming to grips with same.
We were updated on the ongoing discussion in British Columbia as a result of the "Report of the Civil Justice Reform Working Group to the Justice Review Task Force", November 2006. This report was commissioned to explore fundamental change to British Columbia's civil justice (non-family law) system. Its report has recommended a complete rewriting of the Civil Procedure Rules in that province with the specific overriding objective that all proceedings be dealt with "justly and pursuant to the principles of proportionality", that the current pleadings process be abolished with creation of a new "Case initiation as defence process that requires the parties to accurately and succinctly state the facts and the issues in dispute", limit Discovery, limit parameters of expert evidence, and generally streamline the interlocutory and trial process.
The continuing litigation across the country pertaining to "soft-tissue caps" was discussed, pertaining to cases which are currently under way in the provinces of Alberta, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick which are expected to clarify whether such legislation will be subject to effective challenge pursuant to the Charter of Rights.
The revision of limitations of actions law presently underway in the Province of New Brunswick was also discussed.
CLE ACTIVITY
CLE sessions on "Recovery of Economic Loss" and on "Triumphs and Trials of Tort Law" have been organized and scheduled for the National Canadian Legal Conference in Calgary August 13th-14th 2007.
A National Civil Litigation (CLE) Conference scheduled for April 2007 in Montreal was cancelled in February due to lack of registration interest. A post mortem and wider discussion was held regarding whether a "stand alone" CLE should be an annual activity on behalf of the National Section or not, particularly in view of the great deal of competition from the private sector and from Provincial CBA/Law Society programs in the civil procedure area, and also the limited financial resources available to the National Section for such activities. A committee was struck to organize a National CLE program for the Fall of 2008, with a view to having such a conference every second year, going forward.
Respectfully submitted,
David G. O'Brien
Chairperson, CBANB Civil Litigation Section
|
