Public Values, Private Law: The Key SCC Private Law Cases In 2020

Introduction

In 2020 the Supreme Court of Canada tested the boundaries between public and private law, releasing several decisions in which the Court struggled with the role that Courts should be playing in holding parties to public standards of justice and fairness in their private dealings. What follows is a case commentary on those key decisions.

Case Commentary

2020 was an unprecedented year for private law cases at the Supreme Court of Canada. The Court began the year with the groundbreaking decision in Nevsun Resources Ltd v Araya, where a divided court debated the role of public international law norms in defining private civil remedies. It ended the year with another groundbreaking decision in C.M. Callow Inc v Zollinger, concerning the scope of the duty of honest performance, where the Court, while reaching a clear result, showed once again deep disagreements about how public norms of fairness and justice should inform how the Court thinks about