The vulnerability jurisdiction: Equity, parens patriae, and the inherent jurisdiction of the court

This paper describes how the English courts, in the “heroic act of judicial invention”, have developed a distinct vulnerability jurisdiction, separate and apart from the ancient jurisdiction of parens patriae, through the exercise of the inherent jurisdiction of the court. This new jurisdiction provides a legal basis and mechanism for the disruption of exploitative relationship contexts. The objective of that disruption is not protection per se (the parens patriae objective), but the safeguarding of individual autonomy rights in situations where those rights cannot be effectively exercised without intervention. The paper concludes with a discussions of implications of the English “invention” in Canadian jurisprudence.