Polushie v. Zacklynski

Polushie v. Zacklynski

The phrase "Greek Catholic Church" in the Crown grant was ambiguous and had to be interpreted by reference to antecedent and contemporaneous facts (timber requisition, land agent's letter and conduct of parties); those facts demonstrated the grant did not mean a church united with and subject to the jurisdiction of the Pope, so the plaintiffs failed to discharge the onus and the judgment below was reversed.

Citation
(1906) 37 SCR 177
Parties
Appellant/defendant: Michailo Polushie et al.; Respondent/plaintiff: The Reverend Iwan Zacklynski; Respondent/plaintiff: Pavlo Pasemko; Respondent/plaintiff: Petro Melnyk
Court
Supreme Court of Canada
Jurisdiction
Canada
Judgment Date
21 February 1906
Procedural Posture
Appeal Concerning Title to Land and Trust for Religious Use / Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada From the Supreme Court of the North West Territories
Outcome
Appeal allowed; judgment of the Supreme Court of the North-West Territories reversed.
Legal Topics
Title to Land, Construction of Grant/deed, Ambiguous Grantee Description, Concurrent Findings of Fact, Religious Trust Interpretation
Source Language
English
Property Law Trusts Church Property Equity Title to Land Construction of Grant/deed Ambiguous Grantee Description Concurrent Findings of Fact +1 more

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Legal principles 3 Authorities cited 3 Party arguments 2 Amounts and remedies 2
Sign in to unlock

Parties

Michailo Polushie et al.

Appellant/defendant

The Reverend Iwan Zacklynski

Respondent/plaintiff

Pavlo Pasemko

Respondent/plaintiff

Petro Melnyk

Respondent/plaintiff

Procedural Posture

Appeal Concerning Title to Land and Trust for Religious Use / Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada From the Supreme Court of the North West Territories

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the phrase "Greek Catholic Church" in the Crown grant denoted a church in communion with Rome (Roman Catholic/Uniate) or the Greek Orthodox Church
  2. 2 Whether the ambiguous description in the grant must be construed by reference to antecedent and contemporaneous facts and circumstances
  3. 3 Whether concurrent findings of fact by inferior courts should be disturbed on appeal

Ratio Decidendi

The phrase "Greek Catholic Church" in the Crown grant was ambiguous and had to be interpreted by reference to antecedent and contemporaneous facts (timber requisition, land agent's letter and conduct of parties); those facts demonstrated the grant did not mean a church united with and subject to the jurisdiction of the Pope, so the plaintiffs failed to discharge the onus and the judgment below was reversed.

Court Disposition

Appeal allowed; judgment of the Supreme Court of the North-West Territories reversed.

Orders

  • Appeal allowed
  • Judgment below reversed