Gary Wharton is Successful in Upholding the Limit on Sistership Arrest
Bernard LLP partner, Gary Wharton, was successful as counsel in the Federal Court of Appeal in upholding a lower court decision clarifying important limits on the right of sistership arrest under Canadian law. The Federal Court of Appeal, in a unanimous decision written by Mr. Justice Nadon, in the case of WESTSHORE TERMINALS LIMITED & OTHERS v. THE SHIP “CAPE APRICOT” & OTHERS, 2014 FCA 231 concluded that a plaintiff does not have a right, where an in rem right exists, to arrest both the offending vessel and a sistership. Rather, a plaintiff must carefully choose one or the other.
This is an important admiralty law case, being the first in Canada to address this sistership arrest issue which has been the subject of much legal debate, including the exchanges between lawyers leading to the provision of security in this specific case.
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