Barry L. Yellin

The appellant appealed an order, seeking to compel the respondent to execute a proposed agreement.

The Court of Appeal found that the proposed agreement was not executed by the required date, rendering the proposal expired and null and void.

Consequently, the court held that no purpose would be served in ordering the execution of the agreement and dismissed the appeal as moot.

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.