Prof. Mitchell McInnes contributes to upcoming issue of Supreme Court Law Review

A recent paper by Professor Mitchell McInnes of the University of Alberta Faculty of Law is included in a forthcoming collection focused on private law issues.

“COVID-19 and the Limits of Contractual Frustration” appears in Supreme Court Law Review, 2nd Series, Volume 109, which will be released by LexisNexis Canada on April 14.

The collection brings together papers from a conference, “The Power and Limits of Private Law,” that took place at the University of British Columbia’s Green College in June 2022.

McInnes’ paper appears in Part III of the volume, under the theme of “Private Law and Extraordinary Circumstances.” He examines the effect COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines had on contractual relationships – specifically those involving individual consumers, who were hit harder than commercial operations.

Many of these consumers sought relief from the contractual doctrine of frustration, whereby a contract is incapable of being fulfilled due to unforeseen events and neither party is held liable. However, as McInnes writes, Canadian courts and tribunals have rarely upheld these claims.

For more information or to pre-order the collection from the publisher, click here.