What is the best way to protect the authority of international commercial arbitrations?  Is a party obliged to “play defence” and not ask the courts of the seat of the arbitration to interfere until after arbitration proceedings are commenced?  Or can a party “play offense” and ask those courts to take jurisdiction before any arbitration […]

In Canada, the obligation of a tribunal to give reasons has become one of the hallmarks of justice.  But do arbitrators have an obligation to give reasons?  Not if the parties agree that no such reasons need be given and the arbitration is an international commercial arbitration conducted pursuant to the UNCITRAL Model Law.  That […]

A contractors’ worst nightmare is making a mistake in a tender and being stuck with a low bid.  The next worse nightmare is submitting a winning bid but one which contains errors which arguably make the bid non-compliant. What happens when both occur?  Can the contractor get out of its low bid by its own […]

What margin of error does an arbitrator have?  Should an arbitral tribunal’s decision be set aside if it is legally incorrect?  Or should a wider deference be shown, so that a decision will only be set aside if it is unreasonable, or perverse? And how detailed does an arbitral decision have to be? Can it […]

Last week we discussed joint ventures in construction projects.  That issue arose from the important recent decision of the Prince Edward Island Court of Appeal in WCI Waste Conversion Inc. v. ADI International In.    In this article, we will examine two further issues raised by that decision: One, the duties of good faith and […]

A difficult issue that may arise between contractors and subcontractors is the nature of their contractual relationship.  Are they:  independent contractors; or partners; or joint venturers; or employees one of the other?   In WCI Waste Conversion Inc. v. ADI International Inc, The Prince Edward Island Court of Appeal recently considered whether a contractor and subcontractor […]

Can an informal tender process which is not part of a bid depository system give rise to liability for negligent misrepresentation?  Can it give rise to liability for bad faith conduct?   In Oz Optics Limited v. Timbercom, Inc., the Ontario Court of Appeal recently answered Yes to the first question, and after agonizing over […]

Update:  The decision of the BC Supreme Court in West Fraser Mills Ltd. v. BKB Construction Inc., referred to in this article has since been reversed by the BC Court of Appeal.  Please see my blog of April 7, 2012.  The decision of the BC Supreme Court may still be relevant if and when that […]

Every once in a while, an important decision comes along which should be put in your hip pocket so that it can be pulled out when needed.  Rainy Sky S.A. v. Kookmin Bank is such a decision.  In this decision, the U.K. Supreme Court (formerly the House of Lords) recently held that if there is […]