Maritime Law Judgments in Canada – 1979

As in 1978, the jurisdiction of the Federal Court of Canada was the major problem litigated upon in the Courts or at least the major problem reported in 1979.1 The number of jurisdiction cases was nevertheless less than in 1978 when almost half the reported judgments concerned themselves with whether or not the Federal Court had jurisdiction. The reduction in jurisdiction cases was perhaps due to the approach taken by the Supreme Court of Canada in TropwoodA.G. v. Sivaco2 and the efforts of the Federal Court of Appeal to distinguish Quebec North Shore Paper v. C.P. Ltd. 3 and McNamara Construction v. The Queen4. Certainly the strict guidelines of the two foregoing judgments were interpreted very broadly in 1979 and in some cases seem to have even been set aside. In this way the jurisdiction of the Federal Court has been clarified and widened.