St. Ann's Election Case (Gallery v. Darlington)

St. Ann's Election Case (Gallery v. Darlington)

Where the record (formal judgment, statutory report and reasons) shows sufficient material, an appellate court may amend the judgment to include a formal finding of personal corruption; secret, large, undocumented distributions by a candidate to committee chairmen on the eve of an election, undisclosed to the candidate's financial agent and lacking any evidence of bona fide work or accounting, warrant the inference of corrupt purpose and support a finding of personal corrupt practice resulting in disqualification.

Citation
(1906) 37 SCR 563
Parties
Appellant: Daniel Gallery; Respondents: William Darlington and others
Court
Supreme Court of Canada
Jurisdiction
Canada
Judgment Date
11 October 1906
Procedural Posture
Controverted Election (election Petition) / Appeal to Supreme Court of Canada (final Judgment)
Outcome
Appeal dismissed with costs; appellant adjudged personally guilty of corrupt practices and disqualified under the Dominion Elections Act
Legal Topics
Personal Corruption, Bribery, Disqualification, Amendment of Record, Particularity of Findings
Source Language
English
Elections Electoral Law Corrupt Practices Evidence Personal Corruption Bribery Disqualification Amendment of Record +1 more

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Parties

Daniel Gallery

Appellant

William Darlington and others

Respondents

Procedural Posture

Controverted Election (election Petition) / Appeal to Supreme Court of Canada (final Judgment)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the appellate court can insert a formal finding of personal corruption into the record where the trial judges' report and reasons warrant it
  2. 2 Whether the payments made by the candidate to committee chairmen constituted corrupt practices and personal disqualification
  3. 3 Whether the particulars in the petition were sufficient to cover the offence found

Ratio Decidendi

Where the record (formal judgment, statutory report and reasons) shows sufficient material, an appellate court may amend the judgment to include a formal finding of personal corruption; secret, large, undocumented distributions by a candidate to committee chairmen on the eve of an election, undisclosed to the candidate's financial agent and lacking any evidence of bona fide work or accounting, warrant the inference of corrupt purpose and support a finding of personal corrupt practice resulting in disqualification.

Court Disposition

Appeal dismissed with costs; appellant adjudged personally guilty of corrupt practices and disqualified under the Dominion Elections Act

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed with costs
  • Record amended to include formal finding that appellant was personally guilty of corrupt practices