Open AccessWhat Happens When Developers Can't Develop: Can and Should Resource Developers be Compensated When They Can't Develop Their Assets?
Author(s) -
Shawn Denstedt,
and Ryan V. Rodier
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
alberta law review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1925-8356
pISSN - 0002-4821
DOI - 10.29173/alr157
Subject(s) - expropriation , entitlement (fair division) , compensation (psychology) , context (archaeology) , law and economics , resource (disambiguation) , government (linguistics) , business , action (physics) , de facto , public interest , law , economics , political science , microeconomics , computer science , psychology , paleontology , computer network , linguistics , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , psychoanalysis , biology
This article considers the question of whether resource developers are entitled to compensation when their ability to exercise proprietary rights is effectively sterilized by government action, a phenomenon known as "de facto expropriation." It sets out the legal principles that have been applied by courts in Canada, the U.K., the U.S., and Australia. It discusses how courts have considered entitlement to compensation in this context, and how the quantum of compensation can be determined. It concludes that, absent some overriding public interest, the law supports compensating a party whose rights have been confiscated.