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Nevsun Resources Ltd. v. Araya et al. (S.C.C.)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2020

Russell Hopkins
Russell Hopkins*
Affiliation:
Russell Hopkins is a barrister in independent practice at Bright Line Law at Serle Court in London.
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Extract

In a judgment delivered on February 28, 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada held (by majority, 7–2) that Canadian common law does not contain an all-encompassing doctrine of non-justiciability based on foreign acts of state; and (by a narrower majority, 5–4) that alleged breaches of customary international law (CIL) arguably provide a novel cause of action in tort. The court held that claims against a Canadian mining corporation related to alleged violations at a mine in Eritrea could proceed to trial.

Type
International Legal Documents
Information
International Legal Materials , Volume 59 , Issue 5 , October 2020 , pp. 747 - 810
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2020

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References

ENDNOTES

1 Government Of Canada, Doing Business the Canadian Way: A Strategy to Advance Corporate Social Responsibility in Canada's Extractive Sector Abroad (2013), https://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/assets/pdfs/Enhanced_CS_Strategy_ENG.pdf.

2 Nevsun had also challenged jurisdiction on forum non conveniens grounds but this was rejected by Abrioux J at first instance and by the Court of Appeal, and not pursued before the Supreme Court.

3 Nevsun Resources Ltd v. Araya, [2020] S.C.C. 5 (Can.) [hereinafter Nevsun] ¶ 28.

4 Id. ¶ 44.

5 Belhaj and another v. Straw and others [2017] UKSC 3.

6 Nevsun, supra note 3, ¶ 45.

7 Id. ¶ 47.

8 Id. ¶ 275.

9 Id. ¶¶ 272–73.

10 Id. ¶¶ 296, 305.

11 Id. ¶ 301.

12 Id. ¶ 306.

13 Id. ¶ 310.

14 Id. ¶ 69.

15 Id. ¶ 71–72.

16 Id. ¶ 95, 90.

17 Id. ¶¶ 105–107.

18 Id. ¶¶ 117–118.

19 Id. ¶ 122.

20 Id. ¶ 124.

21 Id. ¶ 125–126.

22 Id. ¶ 129.

23 Id. ¶ 127.

24 Id. ¶ 191.

25 Id. ¶¶ 148, 169, 171.

26 Id. ¶¶ 210–211.

27 Id. ¶ 261. A similar paradox has been said to arise in England in relation to questions of jurisdiction following Altimo Holdings v. Kyrgyz Mobil Tel Ltd. [2011] UKPC 7. See Okpabi & Others v. Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. [2018] EWCA Civ 191, per Simon LJ at ¶ 32 and the Chancellor at ¶ 182.

28 Nevsun, supra note 3, ¶ 176.

29 Id. ¶ 259.

30 Id. ¶¶ 112, 185(f), 194(3), 199, 211.

31 See e.g., Prosecutor v. Al Jadeed SAL & Karma al Khayat, STL-14-05, Decision on Interlocutory Appeal Concerning Personal Jurisdiction in Contempt Proceedings (Special Trib. Leb. Oct. 2, 2014) ¶ 67.