Case information

Arbitration — Public international law — Jurisdictional immunity — Judgments and orders — Execution — Enforcement of foreign arbitral award — Whether courts must determine state immunity exceptions before authorizing conservatory measures — Threshold for determining waiver of state immunity — Whether Court of Appeal erred in upholding judgment that foreign state waived immunity — Whether Court of Appeal erred in holding that suretyship order could be ordered before determination of state immunity question — Whether Court of Appeal erred in holding that state immunity did not need to be adjudicated prior to authorization of seizure before judgment

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

The respondents are plaintiffs in continuance of proceedings against the applicants. The respondents seek recognition and enforcement of international arbitral awards against assets of the applicants held by a third party in Canada. A judge of the Superior Court of Quebec authorized seizure before judgment by garnishment on an ex parte basis. Another judge quashed the seizure before judgment on the basis that the claim of one applicant, the Airports Authority of India, of state immunity must be determined first. The Superior Court concluded that the other applicant, the Republic of India, had waived its state immunity.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the Republic of India’s appeal and upheld the conclusion that it had waived its state immunity. The Court of Appeal allowed the respondents’ appeal against the Airports Authority of India and reinstated the seizure before judgment.