Justice L’Heureux-Dubé's Cosmopolitan Legacy: The Value of Comparative Analysis in the Evolution of the Choice of Law Rules Governing Movable Property

Abstract

Justice L'Heureux-Dube is well known, in both academic and judicial circles, as a leader in the application of comparative analysis to the resolution of the universal issues with which family law must contend. Perhaps less well known is her role in bringing pluralistic legal sources to bear in the working out of commercial law problems. Yet she has often been in the forefront here as well, relying on comparative sources to illuminate our understanding of issues as far ranging as the appropriate integration of standard form clauses in insurance contracts, the substantive content of Canadian maritime law, the distinguishing characteristics of arbitration, and the obligation of a creditor to give a defaulting debtor a reasonable opportunity to find other financing before proceeding to realise on its security. In homage to the cosmopolitan legacy of Justice L'Heureux-Dube, this article focuses on the potential benefits of comparative analysis to the area of choice of law for real security in movable property.