Saskatchewan Court Of Appeal: Serial Certification Attempts Abusive

In Abbott Laboratories, Ltd. v Spicer, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal permanently stayed a proposed class action that was the last of five proposed national class actions concerning the drug sibutramine. The Court held that permitting serial attempts at certification in multiple jurisdictions was an abuse of process and contrary to access to justice. Spicer emphasizes that access to justice "does not require that every prospective class action advance to a certification hearing" (para 82).

Background

Plaintiffs, represented by Merchant Law Group, launched four proposed class proceedings concerning the drug sibutramine, one in Quebec (the "Action-QC1"), one in Ontario ("Action-ON"), one in British Columbia ("Action-BC"), and one in Saskatchewan ("Action-SK"). A second proposed class proceeding was commenced in Quebec by a different law firm ("Action-QC2"). Prior to the decision in Spicer: