Tales of Sound and Fury: Factual Causation in Tort after Resurfice

• Author: David Cheifetz
• Pages: 201-224



TalesofSoundandFury

FactualCausationinTortaerResurce

David Cheifetz*

CausationisarequirementforsuccessinallactionsintortSnell v. Farrell

statedthatcausationisanexpressionoftherelationshipt hatmustbe

foundtoexistbetween thetortiousactofthe wrongdoerandtheinjury

to the victim in order to justi fy compensation of the laer out of the

pocketoftheformer

Therequ irementofthe beliefint heexistenceof

 DavidCheifetzBen neBestBurnLLPTorontoOntarioCanadaIthanka mong

othersProfessorsL ewisKlarVaughanBlackandRussBrownAtt heLaw

SocietyofUpperCa nadaSpecialLect uresPersonalInjuryLawAprilI

presentedamoredetai ledpapertitledRiskasL egalCausationCausationi nTort

inCanadianCom monLawaerResurceCorpvHankeThatpaperaswella s

thisoneisbasedo nCausationinCanadaint heThirdMil lenniumNothi ngIs

NowEnoughScrapingtheSurfaceTheCon sequencesofResurceC orpvHanke

whichismyongoingexam inationofthecu rrentstateofCanadia nlawonfactual

causationprima rilyintortasares ultofResurceCorpvHankeinfra noteon-

linewwwbbburncomart iclesResurces tatuspdf

 Snell v. Farrell SCRatSnellTherearetwoaspectstocau sation

factualcausea ndproximatecauseThi sarticleexam inesonlyfactua lcause

Proximatecauseisal imitationontheexte ntofpotentialliabil ityProximatecause

isalabelusedtodesc ribetheprocessbywh ichfactualcause sareforpolicy

reasonsexcludedfromco nsiderationasactionablefactualcaus esTherationale

fortheexclusionisareas onfornotallowingliabi lityinthepart icularcasese eL

KlarTort LawthedTorontoThomsonCarswellatTort LawSnell

Athey v. LeonatiSCRAthey andWalker Estate v. York Finch General

HospitalSCRWalker Estatewerethedeningcas esforCanadiantort

jurisprudencebe foreResurceCorpvHankeSCRResurceThereis

anextensiveamountofac ademicscholarshipexa miningthemea ningofcausation

DC

acausationrelat ionshipthatactuallyexists int heparticularcaseone

thati smore than merelya potential moret hanmerely an unrealize d

possibilityisa n inherent part of a system of tort law whose den-

ingprem iseisthe righting of wrongsb etweena ninju redperson and

awrongdoerThe correctivejusticeunderpinni ngoffaultbased com-

pensationispredicatednoton lyuponthedefendantswrongbutupon

itscausal connection tothe plaintisharm

If howeverthedening

premiseof the systemis compensationthe repairof thehar mift he

principlesofthetort systempermitthe severanceofthecon nectionbe-

tweenthei njuredpersonandt heharmonthe onesideandwrongdoer

ontheothersidebecausewhoorwhatcausedtheinjuryisnotasimport-

antascompensatingthei njuredpersonthenthecausationconnection

neednotbeaprerequisitetocompensation

inlawTort Lawcatnotesandlistsmanyoftheartic les

SeealsoKCooper StephensonPersonalInjuryDamagesinCana dadedToronto

CarswellcPersonalInjuryDamagesAdditionalimportantarticl esinclude

RWWrightLiabi lityforPossibleWrongsCausationStati sticalProbabilit yand

theBurdenofProofLoyLALRevPossibleWrongsJStaple-

tonChoosingWhatWeMeanbyCausatio nintheLawMoLRev

DAFischerIn sucientCausesKyLJRFumerton

KKressCausationandt heLawPreemptionLawfu lSuciencyandCausalSu f-

ciencyLawContempProbsandDAFischerSuccessiveCauses

andTheEnigmaofD uplicatedHarmTennLRev

 Tort LawibidatThedist inctionisbet weensystemspremis edoncorrective

justiceandsystem swhoserationaleisin strumental istseeEJWeinribCausation

andWrongdoingChiKentLRevForthemomentthecoreration ale

forCanadiantortl awiscorrectivejustic eResurceibidatparastatesTh e

majorelementsofatortact iondutybreachcausinginjuryandcaus ereectthe

principleofmoralwrongdoingwh ichisthebasisofth enegligencelawLKlar

DownsizingTortsi nNJMullanyAMLindenedsTorts Tomorrow: A Tribute

to John Flemingatp

 Thebestdisc ussionofcausationissue sinrecentCommonwealthju risprudenceis

containedinaq uartetofHouseofLordsdeci sionsFairchild v. Glenhaven Funeral

Services LtdUKHLFairchil dChester v. AfsharUKHLChester

GreggvScoUKHLGreggandBarkervCorusUKLtdUKHL

BarkerSeeJStapletonLordsaLeapingEvident iaryGapsTortsLJ

LordsaLeapingforathoroughdiscu ssionofFairchil d.Seeals oLKhoury

CausationandRiskint heHighestCourtsofC anadaEnglandandFrance

LawQRevTherea reextensivediscus sionsinanumberofdeci sionsof

theHighCourtofAust raliaForexampleMarch v. Stramare (E. & M.H) Pty

HCAMarchandChappel v. Hart HCATheAustralianlawisreviewed

inIppCommieeReport of th e Law of Negligenceonlinehprevofneg

treasurygovaucontentreviewasp