2016 March 29

Watts v. Chun, 2016 ONSC 1586

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted an application to permanently stay this lawsuit on the basis it was an abuse of process because the plaintiff’s parallel Korean lawsuit over the allegedly defamatory emails and blog postings had been dismissed by the Jeju Regional Court in Korea as a result of the plaintiff’s failure to comply with a Korean court order requiring him to post security for the defendant’s costs. The Ontario court held that a “decision of the [Korean] court with jurisdiction dismissing an action is a decision on the merits” and there was no reason why the Ontario court should refuse to enforce the Korean court’s judgment.