Law Commission of Ontario Releases Report and Recommendations on Joint and Several Liability Under the Ontario Business Corporations Act
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TORONTO, May 31, 2011 – The Law Commission of Ontario today released its Final Report in its project on joint and several liability under the Ontario Business Corporations Act. The Report analyzes whether the system of joint and several liability that operates for claims relating to OBCA corporations should be reformed to some version of proportionate liability and/or a statutory cap on damages.
On October 28, 2009, the LCO, supported by the Hennick Centre for Business and Law, held a half-day roundtable discussion to review the joint and several liability scheme for professionals under the OBCA. The Roundtable panelists and participants consisted of a diverse range of professionals who represented the interests of various stakeholders, whose views were taken into account in preparing the Consultation Paper released in May 2010. Osgoode Hall Law School LCO Scholar in Residence 2009-2010, Professor Poonam Puri headed the project.
“The views expressed during the Roundtable and the responses to our Consultation Paper ranged from those adamantly opposing reform to those stressing an urgent need to move toward a proportionate liability regime,” said Dr. Patricia Hughes, Executive Director of the Law Commission of Ontario.”These contributions were extremely helpful, but we also considered experiences elsewhere, the impact of decisions by the Supreme Court of Canada and the advantages and disadvantages of other systems of liability in relation to the goal to be achieved, among other factors, in reaching our final recommendation that the principle of joint and several liability should continue to operate for OBCA corporations.”
Launched in September 2007, the LCO, which is housed at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, operates independently of government to recommend law reforms to enhance access to justice.
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Poonam Puri
Associate Professor of Law
Co-Director, Hennick Centre for Business and Law
Osgoode Hall Law School
York University
4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Temporary Office Location: S835 Ross Building
E-mail: ppuri@osgoode.yorku.ca
Patricia Hughes
Executive Director
276 York Lanes, York University
4700 Keele Street, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
E-mail: lawcommission@lco-cdo.org