What is the defence of a foreign judgment that was obtained in violation of the rules of natural or fundamental justice?

Canadian courts will neither recognize nor enforce a foreign judgment that was obtained in violation of the rules of [page547] natural or fundamental justice. Accordingly, in order to be recognized and enforced in Canada, a foreign judgment must have been reached at the conclusion of a process that provided minimum standards of fairness to the litigants. The onus with respect to the potential application of this "defence" is upon the party seeking to resist the enforcement of the foreign judgment. As Major J. stated, in delivering the majority judgment in Beals v. Saldanha, at para. 59, a "condition precedent" to successful application of this defence is that the defendant must prove, on a balance of probabilities, that "the foreign proceedings were contrary to Canadian notions of fundamental justice". b. The respondent's arguments