Case information

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Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Charter - Civil procedure - Contempt of court – Double Jeopardy – Penalty – Abuse of process – Do the Charter and the common law related to double jeopardy preclude an individual being punished twice for disobedience of the same court order – If the Charter applies to a civil contempt proceeding, is punishing an individual more than once for breach of the same court order prescribed by law and a reasonable limit in a free and democratic society - Does the respondent in civil contempt proceedings have an unfettered right to testify on his or her own behalf, the right to call viva voce evidence and the right to make full submissions - Are the duties of a judge the same for an unrepresented respondent in a civil contempt motion and in a criminal proceeding - Does the joining of the liability and penalty phases of a contempt hearing violate the Charter - In finding civil contempt for failure to answer questions in an examination, must the hearing judge specify each and every question and answer which constitutes the contempt in order to satisfy the Charter and/ or the common law as enunciated in Cotroni v. Quebec Police Commission, [1978] 1 S.C.R. 1048 - Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms ss. 7, 11(h).

The applicant Mr. Diamond failed to provide satisfactory answers to questions posed during and subsequent to an examination in aid of execution following a default judgment against him in favour of the respondents. After further failures to abide by court orders to provide satisfactory oral or written answers to the majority of the questions, Mr. Diamond was held in contempt of court and sentenced to 21 days’ imprisonment and the payment of a fine of $20,000. When his failure to provide answers continued, the respondents brought another contempt motion. Following an adjournment, Mr. Diamond brought a cross-motion at the contempt hearing for an order staying the motion as an abuse of process or, alternatively, for an adjournment in order to call viva voce evidence. The Superior Court of Justice dismissed Mr. Diamond’s cross-motions, held that he had failed to purge his contempt and remained in contempt of court, and sentenced him to a further 42 days in jail and payment of an additional fine of $40,000. The Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed his appeal.