The legal protection of trade secrets is a desirable objective for the law to pursue and requires improvement through the implementation of new civil and criminal law measures. This report recommends the creation of two new statutory torts to protect the plaintiff who is without an agreement that is governed by the general law of contract. The first tort is aimed at industrial espionage in relation to trade secrets and would make the acquisition of [...]
This report examines the provisions of the Statue of Frauds and the Guarantees Acknowledgment Act, an Alberta statute. Where the provisions of these Acts are still useful, the report recommends that it be retained and reformed, where they are not useful that they be abolished. The Statue of Frauds was enacted by the English Parliament in 1677 to prevent false claims being accepted by the courts by requiring that a number of kinds of contracts [...]
This report sets out a rules of conduct which will provide a firm and ascertainable legal basis for the conduct of private debt collection agencies and the debt collectors, and rules of conduct which should apply to everyone including collection agencies but also including creditors who collect their own debts. Proposed standards of conduct include prohibitions and obligations stated in simple and intelligible language so it will provide and efficient method of enforcement of the [...]
This report considers different approaches to compensation for expropriated land which is subject to one or more security interests, especially mortgages. Current to the publication of the report (May 1984), compensation in these cases was regulated by s 49 of the Expropriation Act, RSA 1980, c E-16. This compensation was based on the "market value" theory, under which the security holder was paid market value of the security interest attached to the land, and the [...]
This report recommends several amendments to the Builders' Lien Act and also briefly discusses whether a Builders' Lien Act is necessary or should be repealed. A draft Builders' Lien Amendment Act is attached. This report recommends that the period of time that the holdback or lien fund must be retained by the owner is 35 days after abandonment or substantial performance of the contract. The report recommends that the Act provide that an owner or [...]
This report contains a proposed Act that balances the sometimes conflicting interests of the parties to tenancies of mobile home sites, and that will still provide the parties with appropriate and convenient new rights, responsibilities, and remedies. This report covers special features of tenancies of mobile home sites, trends towards statutory regulation, the scope of the proposed legislation, the tenancy agreement, obligations of landlord and tenant, remedies, failure to give possession, termination of tenancies, security [...]
This report is a study of the law of partition and alternative methods of termination of co-ownership and contains a draft Act. The matrimonial home is the most common, but not the only, example of property which is the subject of co-ownership in Alberta. Alberta and Saskatchewan are the only two provinces in Canada that do not have revised legislation providing for termination of co-ownership. The current law in Alberta is contained in three English [...]
This extensive report is the product of research the Institute undertook regarding the law relating to tenancies of residential premises, which is the part of the law of landlord and tenant. It includes a proposed Act that balances the interests of landlords and tenants with the hope that it will provide a satisfactory legal framework for their activities. A plan for a security of tenure is discussed and included to assist in making an informed [...]
This is an extensive report. In its examination of the procedures of expropriation, it recommends procedural fairness that is as expeditious as fairness permits. This requires notice to the owner of a proposed expropriation and provision for objections by the owner. If land is taken, there has to be the right to payment of a reasonable proportion of his compensation before owner is obliged to give up possession. The time from the inception of the [...]
This paper considers the desirability and design of provincial legislation that pursues the regulation of business names and business name disclosure. Business name regulation is for the purpose of limiting the scope for confusion caused by the use of similar names, and business name disclosure requires that firms that use a business name disclose certain information about themselves to the public. This paper discusses the two objectives of business names legislation and then describes the [...]