Is a breach of a court order a tort for breach of the statute or common law?

Alberta, Canada


The following excerpt is from MacDonald & Freund v. Haljan, 1996 ABCA 387 (CanLII):

It seems to me that in this regard a breach of a court order is analogous to a breach of a statute, and that the case of The Queen in Right of Canada v. Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (1983), 1983 CanLII 21 (SCC), 143 D.L.R. (3d) 9 (S.C.C.), is therefore of assistance. In that case Mr. Justice Dickson, as he then was, reviewed English, American and Canadian authorities. He said at p. 22 that"... where there is no duty of care at common law, breach of non-industrial penal legislation should not affect civil liability unless the statute provides for it." And he concluded at p. 25 that "The notion of a nominate tort of statutory breach giving a right to recovery merely on proof of breach and damages should be rejected, … ."

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