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83 U. Toronto Fac. L. Rev. 169 (2025)
Enrichment, Exploitation, and the Evasion of Responsibility: A Proposal to Apply the Equitable Doctrine of Unjust Enrichment to Bridge the Accountability Gap and Provide Remedies to the Victims of Forced Labour Abroad

handle is hein.journals/utflr83 and id is 169 raw text is: ENRICHMENT, EXPLOITATION, AND THE EVASION OF RESPONSIBILITY: A PROPOSAL TO APPLY THE EQUITABLE DOCTRINE OF UNJUST ENRICHMENT TO BRIDGE THE ACCOUNTABILITY GAP AND PROVIDE REMEDIES TO THE VICTIMS OF FORCED LABOUR ABROAD JORDYN SELZNICK* INTRODUCTION 170 I THE PROBLEM 171 II AN INSUFFICIENT ATTEMPT AT A SOLUTION: NEVSUNRESOURCESLTD v ARAYA 175 III THE DOCTRINE OF UNJUST ENRICHMENT 177 IV GROUNDING CLAIMS IN UNJUST ENRICHMENT IN CANADA 179 V APPLICATION OF UNJUST ENRICHMENT TO THE USE OF FORCED LABOUR BY MNCs 184 VI POSSIBLE DEFENCES 190 CONCLUSION 192 ABSTRACT The International Labour Organization reported in 2021 that 17.3 million people globally were forced labourers in the private sector. As came to light in the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in Nevsun Resources Ltd v Araya, Canadian multinational corporations (MNCs) have used, and continue to use, forced labourers within their global supply chains. Several overlapping factors allow Canadian MNCs to evade liability for their use of forced labour. In instances of human rights violations perpetrated by MNCs, plaintiffs have attempted to advance tort claims. However, by bringing an action in tort, plaintiffs are faced with procedural challenges, including issues relating to choice of law, jurisdiction, and piercing the corporate veil, that bar their case from being heard on the merits. More than creating an incongruence between the aims of the justice system and the application of that justice system, without a reliable means to hold these corporations accountable for their wrongdoings, vulnerable people are left without remedies for the clear wrongs perpetrated against them. This paper proposes the use of the equitable doctrine of unjust enrichment, entirely separate from tort law, to overcome the procedural issues identified. * JD/MBA (University of Toronto, 2024). I would like to acknowledge my Economic Torts professors-Brandon Kain and Anthony Alexander-for their thoughtful assistance during the brainstorming phase of this paper and for their encouragement to publish.