Legal Blog:

The Opening of the Courts: Chief Justice Morawetz’s Speech

On September 23, 2024, Chief Justice Morawetz gave a speech at the annual Opening of the Courts, in which he provided an update on the work of the Civil Rules Review, which our own Allison Speigel is co-chairing along with Justice Cary Boswell.

His remarks concerning the work of the Civil Rules Review were as follows:

“One significant measure towards addressing our Court’s backlog and the culture of complacency in the area of Civil, is a commitment to a complete reform of the Civil Rules of Procedure.  Rules that have not been updated for 40 years.

Last Fall, Attorney General Doug Downey and I announced a Civil Rules Review. We assembled a team dedicated to this work.  It is co-chaired by Justice Cary Boswell and Allison Speigel, and includes members of the judiciary, members of the private and public bar and expert legal academics.

The group launched phase one of their work in January.

From the outset, I hoped for bold and inspired thinking.

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No Claims Over – Release

A creditor commences an action against, seemingly, the only entity liable for the debt. It enters into minutes of settlement with that debtor and, as part of the minutes, it is to give a full and final release. The debtor wants a “no claims over” clause, but the creditor does not want to give up its rights to claim against someone else – just in case. The creditor and debtor disagree as to the form of the release. Will the release contain that clause and, if it does, what then? Those questions were answered in Haider v. Rizvi, a 2023 decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Clause Meaning

A “no claims over” clause stipulates that not only will the releasor (creditor) release all its claims against the releasee (debtor), but it will also not commence any action against anyone else who might claim contribution and indemnity against the releasee relating to the same issues.

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