Marley Co. v. Cast North America (1983) Inc. et.al.

The Plaintiff in the case had entered into a contract with CAST for the carriage of a container of goods from Illinois to Holland via Montreal. CAST in turn entered into a contract with a rail carrier for carriage of the container to Montreal. The container was damaged while being loaded in Illinois. The Plaintiff joined both CAST and the rail carrier as Defendants. The rail carrier brought a motion to dismiss the claim on the basis that the Federal Court was without jurisdiction. The Court held that its maritime jurisdiction under section 22(2)(f) of the Federal Court Act did not extend to the rail carrier because the rail carrier was not a party to the through bill of lading. The Court held that section 22(2)(f) only gives it jurisdiction against the actual parties to the through bill of lading. Accordingly, section 22(2)(f) would give the Court jurisdiction against CAST but not the rail carrier. The Court went on, however, to dismiss the rail carrier’s motion on the grounds that it was possible the Court might have jurisdiction pursuant to section 23(c) of the Federal Court Act. Section 23(c) gives the Federal Court jurisdiction over extra-provincial works and undertakings. The Court found that there was insufficient evidence to determine this issue.