The appellant shipyard appealed orders requiring it to indemnify the insurer for amounts paid to a beneficiary under a group life insurance policy where the shipyard had negligently lost the application form.
The Court of Appeal had previously found the shipyard and insurer jointly and severally liable to the beneficiary and granted leave to apply to the Trial Division for determination of contribution or indemnity.
The majority held that the prior court's remarks on the Contributory Negligence Act and indemnity were obiter dicta, that the trial judge erred in treating them as binding, and that the issue must be resolved in a separate action where the shipyard could raise all available defences including the Limitation of Personal Actions Act.
Cameron J.A. dissented, holding the prior court's findings were part of the ratio decidendi and the trial judge properly followed them.
