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Contempt

Posted on August 14, 2017 | Posted in Collections, Five Liners

Greenberg v. Nowack 2016 Ont CA

2363523 Ontario Inc. v. Nowack 2016 Ont CA

These cases involve the same judgment debtor, with different judgment creditors. In each case, the debtor was supposed to invest the creditors’ money and, somehow, the money disappeared. Each judgment was in the millions of dollars. In each case, the debtor was ordered to produce all financial transactions, bank statements, cheques etc so that money given to him could be traced. In each case, the debtor ignored the various orders, stalled, and prevaricated. In each case, the creditors brought civil contempt proceedings. In Greenberg, the motions judge thought it necessary for a creditor to prove that the debtor wilfully and deliberately disobeyed the relevant order. The Court of Appeal held that all that was required was an intentional act or omission that breached the order. The Court sent the matter back to another Superior Court judge for determination. In 2363523 Ont, the creditor was further along and had obtained not only a determination of contempt, but a 30 day jail sentence for the debtor. The debtor appealed. The Court dismissed the appeal and gave the debtor 45 days from his release to comply with the order. The Court indicated that the purpose of contempt proceedings is not to punish, but to force the contemnor to do what is ordered to be done.

 

Jonathan Speigel

 

Written by Jonathan Speigel Jonathan Speigel, the founding partner of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, leads the litigation and construction practices.

 

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