Barry L. Yellin

The appellant, an Estate Trustee, appealed an order finding him in contempt of court for filing his materials to pass accounts two weeks late.

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and set aside the contempt order, finding that the motion judge made a palpable and overriding error by failing to address the criminal burden of proof and ignoring evidence of the appellant's efforts to comply.

The Court reiterated that contempt powers should be exercised with scrupulous care and only when the conduct is wilful, deliberate, and contumacious beyond a reasonable doubt.