The Supreme Court of Canada heard arguments Wednesday about a case that will decide if hosts are responsible for the behaviour of their alcohol-consuming guests.

The issue stems from a 1999 New Year's Eve drunk driving accident caused by Desmond Desormeaux, who left a house party near Ottawa after consuming 12 beers.

He got into a head-collision with a young couple, killing Derek Dupre and paralyzing his girlfriend Zoe Childs, who was 17 at the time.

Childs, now 24, has been seeking compensation from Desormeaux's hosts, Julie Zimmerman and Dwight Courrier, for letting him drive home drunk.

Unsuccessful in lower Ontario courts, Childs has now brought her case before the Supreme Court.

"A lot of it's gone beyond me and I think that this is more of a social issue and that it's about saving people's lives and protecting people," Child's said outside the Ottawa courthouse on Monday.

Childs is suing Zimmerman and Courrier for $2.3 million in damages stating they knew Desormeaux was a heavy drinker and they could have stopped him from driving.

"If you don't care about the third parties out in society, out on the road, you must still care enough about the people that are in your homes to say that 'I don't want them to die'," she said.

Childs' lawyer Barry Laushway echoed his client's position.

"The hosts… should have done something more than what they did," Laushway said. "What they did was nothing."

Desormeaux, who had other drunk-driving convictions, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but served about 2½ years before being released to a halfway house.

Lawyers for MADD Canada also say that some blame does rest on the hosts.

"Where you have facilitated the consumption of alcohol by providing a roof or glasses or a fridge you've done something to create the risk," lawyer Earl Cherniak said.

But lawyer Eric Williams, who is representing Zimmerman and Courrier, said his clients could not tell that Desormeaux was drunk.

"He may not have been displaying anything to individuals at the party and as the toxicologist has said, display can change," Williams said.

Insurance Bureau of Canada lawyer Alan D'Silva says the ruling would be an expensive one for insurance companies.

"People will be sued as a matter of course in these cases and that will add to increased costs of lawyers… and also having to pay out settlements."

Previous Rulings

In 2002, Justice James Chadwick of the Ontario Superior Court found that Desormeaux's hosts had a "duty not to turn Desmond Desormeaux loose on the highway, where he could cause injury or death to others."

But the judge refused to rule in favour of Childs, saying that a finding of liability would place too large a burden on social hosts, and home insurance premiums would rise.

Childs then appealed to the Ontario Court of Appeal, which dismissed her claim, saying there was no negligence by the hosts since it was a 'bring your own bottle' party.

However, the appeals court left the door open to finding liability in other cases "when it is shown that a social host knew that an intoxicated guest was going to drive a car and did nothing to protect innocent third parties."

Under current law, hosts in commercial settings, such as bar owners, are liable for some of their customers' actions, legally referred to as a "duty of care."

And in a key case in 2001, an employer was found partly liable when a woman drank too much at an office party and was injured driving home.

Canada's top judges will likely make their ruling in June.