Thomas G. W. Telfer

Ideas, interests, institutions and the history of Canadian bankruptcy law, 1867-1880

Michael Trebilcocks scholarship has long recognized the importance of ideas, interests, and institutions in shaping policy. Taking the same analytical approach that Michael Trebilcock and Ninette Kelley use in their ground-breaking book on the history of Canadian immigration, which focuses on economic interests, contested ideas, and institutions, this article examines the Canadian historical experience to gain an understanding of the ideas, interests, and institutions that have been influential in shaping the evolution of Canadian bankruptcy law. Specifically, the article addresses the rise of Canadian bankruptcy legislation in the early post-Confederation period and its ultimate repeal in 1880. Bankruptcy law represented both a conflict of ideas over the morality of the bankruptcy discharge and a distinct divergence of interests between local and distant creditors over the advantages and disadvantages of a pro rata distribution. Institutional factors such as federalism, courts, and the emerging regulatory state also had an independent effect.

Adapting international private law rules for electronic consumer contracts

The role of international private law is often regarded as being ‘derived from a desire to do justice’ for parties involved in cross-border disputes. The onset of electronic commerce and the increasing prevalence of electronic contracts pose new challenges for international private law. Entering into a contract by electronic means enables parties who are domiciled (or have a place of business) in different jurisdictions to use the Internet or e-mail for the purchase and sale of goods and services or a combination of both. Whilst issues of privacy and security are undoubtedly of extreme importance to consumers when conducting their transactions online, other aspects of the electronic consumer contract are just as important. From an international private law perspective, rules of jurisdiction and the law to be applied to online consumer contracts have been the subject of considerable debate.