Open AccessCompensation and the Scope of Equity's Remedial and Restitutionary Generosity
Author(s) -
Paul M. Perell
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
alberta law review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1925-8356
pISSN - 0002-4821
DOI - 10.29173/alr1476
Subject(s) - appeal , equity (law) , fiduciary , remedial education , generosity , compensation (psychology) , receipt , law , duty , supreme court , law and economics , political science , scope (computer science) , economics , accounting , psychology , social psychology , computer science , programming language
Canson Enterprises Ltd. v. Boughton is a case about equity’s restitutionary remedies, including compensation for breach of fiduciary duty and compensation under the doctrines of knowing assistance and knowing receipt. It was an unusual civil case because it had two distinct phases that yielded two trial level judgments, two judgments of the British Columbia Court of Appeal, and an important judgment form the Supreme Court of Canada. The Canson case was extraordinary because there were significant changes from phase one to phase two in the factual foundation of the case, and these changes provided a novel opportunity to study the nature of equitable remedies and to develop instructive comparisons and contrasts. This article uses the Canson case as a vehicle to explore equitable compensation and the scope of equity’s remedial and restitutionary generosity.