The Ontario Superior Court of Justice issued a certificate of judgment to the Respondent in the appeal (Midland Resources) against the appellant (Shtaif). The Appellant was successful in registering the judgment in Alberta under the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Act, RSA 2000, c R-6 (“REJA”)
The appeal in this case focused on when a party qualifies as a “judgment creditor” under REJA and the defences available to a debtor resisting registration under REJA.
The Alberta Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and held Midland Resources had standing as a judgment creditor under REJA and that the Appellant, Shtaif had not established any viable impeachment defences available under the REJA.
The Court of Appeal held that the applicable standard of review was a question of mixed fact and law, and absent an extricable error on law, palpable and overriding error.
In its reasoning, the Court of Appeal noted that Section 1(1)(c) of the REJA defines a “judgment creditor” as “the person by whom the judgment was obtained, and includes that person’s executors, administrators, successor and assigns”. That definition included Midland Resources given its status in the Ontario proceeding The Alberta court dismissed the Appellant’s application to adduce fresh evidence in support of a fraud defence, as that evidence had largely already been considered in Ontario, and, in any event, would not have been decisive or potentially decisive of the matter. While the Court of Appeal was mindful that all judgments are subject to a final review by the Supreme Court of Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada in this case had already declined to hear an appeal of the judgment on its merits.
Finally, affirming the complementary principles of comity and reciprocity, the Court noted that the REJA required only that a certificate be in the form prescribed by the regulation and be “issued from the original court and under its seal and signed by a judge of that court or the clerk of that court.” Consistent with these principles, the Alberta court had no statutory jurisdiction to look behind a the certificate emanating from the originating court..
The decision reinforced the principal of reciprocity in cross-border enforcement judgments, and the principles of judicial comity, particularly in the context of a wide defence for fraud under REJA.