What is the test for enforcing an illegal contract?
Alberta, Canada
The following excerpt is from LaRose v. Fleuty, 1971 CanLII 226 (AB QB):
He referred to Scott v. Brown, [1892] 2 Q.B. 724 at 728, in which Lindley L.J. said: "Ex turpi causa non oritur actio. This old and well known legal maxim is founded in good sense and expresses a clear and well-recognized legal principle which is not confined to indictable offences. No court ought to enforce an illegal contract or allow itself to be made the instrument of enforcing obligations alleged to arise out of a contract or transaction which is illegal … If the evidence adduced by the plaintiff proves the illegality the court ought not to assist him."
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