About this matter

Preserved British Columbia forum for false imprisonment claim arising in China

The B.C. Court of Appeal dismissed Silvercorp’s appeal from the refusal to stay a false imprisonment claim on forum non conveniens grounds. Huang alleged that Vancouver-based Silvercorp orchestrated his investigation, prosecution, conviction and imprisonment in China. The Court held that Silvercorp had not established that China was clearly the more appropriate forum under s. 11 of the Court Jurisdiction and Proceedings Transfer Act, and rejected its argument that the B.C. action constituted an abuse of process because it effectively challenged Huang’s Chinese conviction.