The corporate identification doctrine clarified through an intervention in the Supreme Court of Canada
A corporation is of course an abstract entity. It is a legal person, but can only act through human beings. Certain causes of action, such as fraud or knowing assistance of a breach of trust, have a knowledge requirement: the defendant can only be held liable if he or she – or it, in the case of a corporation – has knowledge of certain facts. How can a corporation be held liable for having certain knowledge if it has no brain to possess that knowledge?
