Canada Case Law

Liu v. Ni

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Plaintiffs failed to meet the balance of probabilities on all major claims due to unreliable or missing documentary evidence, credibility findings (plaintiffs found deceptive regarding Chinese estate division), inadequate pleadings and disclosure, and procedural defects; the court refused recognition/enforcement in Canada of the RMB 27,800,000 Chinese civil judgment because of a reasonably based concern as to China’s judicial independence; accordingly the plaintiffs' claims (family compensation, debt claims, unjust enrichment, conversion, fraudulent misrepresentation) are dismissed. The court…

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• Enforcement of foreign arbitration and court awards
• Authenticity of financial instruments
• Judicial notice and judicial independence
• Burden and standard of proof
• Fraudulent conveyance
• Family compensation damages

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McCoppen v. Stewart

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Interim family-law orders were granted after incomplete disclosure: income was imputed, child and spousal support set, production ordered, a fine imposed, and a valuator appointed.

• Interim support
• Income imputation
• Document production and disclosure
• Litigation expense advance
• Appointment of business valuator
• Penalty for non-disclosure

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Rong v. Tan

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court granted interim spousal support, limited document production orders, and an interim distribution of property funds, while dismissing one production request.

• Spousal support
• Interim distribution under s.89 fla
• Document production and disclosure
• Expert accounting and valuation
• Costs
• Spousal-support

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Concord Pacific Acquisitions Inc. v. Oei

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court granted the defendants special costs in part after finding Concord’s senior witness gave pervasive dishonest evidence intended to mislead the court.

• Formation of contract
• Implied terms
• Honest performance/good faith
• Dishonest/fabricated evidence
• Special costs
• Document production and disclosure

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Peters v. United Parcel Service Canada Ltd. and Gordon

Court

Canadian Human Rights Tribunal

The Tribunal held that (1) the individual respondent's personnel file must be reviewed and any documents arguably relevant to his conduct, behaviour and performance produced because relevance is plausible and the individual did not object to disclosure; (2) UPS must produce Canadian documents that record or address counts and outcomes of sexual harassment complaints, informal investigations, findings and sanctions/compensation for the three-year period preceding the complainant's departure through referral to the Tribunal, because such material is arguably relevant to UPS's s.65(2) defence re…

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• Sexual harassment
• Document production and disclosure
• Vicarious liability
• Due diligence defence (s.65(2))
• Privilege (settlement)
• Inter-jurisdictional relevance

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Galloway v. A.B.

Court

British Columbia Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal upheld a production order in a PPPA anti-SLAPP dismissal application, finding the requested documents were relevant and the disclosure prejudice was outweighed.

• Protection of public participation act (anti‑slapp) s.4 dismissal test
• Document production and disclosure
• Cross‑examination on affidavit
• Privilege (qualified, absolute, wigmore)
• Relevance–prejudice balancing
• Supreme court civil rules rule 22‑1(4)(c)

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Dunbar v. The Law Society of British Columbia

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The Court held it retained inherent jurisdiction over Dunbar’s document-production application, but deferred the Attorney General’s jurisdictional challenge until a later hearing.

• Miscarriage of justice
• Ministerial review under s.696.1 criminal code
• Statutory privilege under legal profession act ss.87-88
• Document production and disclosure
• Ineffective assistance of counsel
• Jurisdiction of superior court

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Mohammed v. Canada (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship)

Court

Federal Court

La Cour fédérale a rejeté une motion portant sur la production de documents dans un contrôle judiciaire en matière d’immigration et a conclu que l’agent avait respecté la Direction to Attend.

• Procedural fairness
• Judicial review
• Inadmissibility on security grounds
• Document production and disclosure
• Deliberative privilege
• Reasonableness review

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Devathasan v. Devathasan

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

Oral ruling on late evidence at trial: the court allowed three late-listed lay witnesses to testify, but excluded cash register records for non-disclosure.

• Admissibility of evidence
• Witness lists and will-say statements
• Document production and disclosure
• Exclusionary sanction for non-disclosure
• Prejudice and trial fairness
• Expert evidence and financial records

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Potratz v. Potratz

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court found the defendant in civil contempt for failing to pay spousal support arrears, property judgment amounts, costs, and for not rolling over RRSPs.

• Contempt
• S.11(b) unreasonable delay
• S.11(c) self-incrimination
• Document production and disclosure
• Rrsp rollover
• Costs assessment

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