What is the test for refusing to hear a motion for contempt of court?
Manitoba, Canada
The following excerpt is from Tait v. Barker, 2016 MBQB 148 (CanLII):
In Hadkinson v. Hadkinson, [1952] 2 All E.R. 567 (Eng.C.A.), Lord Justice Denning said: It is a strong thing for a court to refuse to hear a party to a cause and it is only to be justified by grave considerations of public policy. It is a step which a court will only take when the contempt itself impedes the course of justice and there is no other effective means of securing his compliance…. Applying this principle, I am of the opinion that the fact that a party to a cause has disobeyed an order of the court is not of itself a bar to his being heard, but if his disobedience is such that, so long as it continues, it impedes the course of justice in the cause, by making it more difficult for the court to ascertain the truth or to enforce the orders which it may make, then the court may in its discretion refuse to hear him until the impediment is removed or good reason is shown why it should not be removed.
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