CANADA Law and Practice Contributed by: John Pirie, Matthew Latella, David Gadsden and Christina Doria, Baker McKenzie
• any other matter that is pertinent to the enforce - ment of the order. Provincial rules also allow for the possible examina - tion of “any person who the court is satisfied may have knowledge” of the debtor’s finances. The court is more likely to order the examination of a third party where the debtor has been non-responsive or evasive, has fled the jurisdiction, or is deceased. A debtor who fails to attend a court-ordered examina - tion in aid of execution – or otherwise frustrates such an examination by being unco-operative, unrespon - sive or deceitful – may be found liable for civil con - tempt. The consequences of being found in contempt include: • a fine for the payment of money; • being ordered to do or refrain from doing an act; • the payment of costs to the creditor; • compliance with any other order the judge may consider necessary; and/or • imprisonment for a set period or until the non-com - pliance is cured. 2.5 Challenging Enforcement of Domestic Judgments A party may challenge the enforcement of a domestic judgment by challenging the judgment itself. By way of example, in Ontario, a party may make a motion to: • have an order set aside or varied on the ground of fraud or of facts arising or discovered after it was made; or • suspend the operation of an order. The Rules also provide for setting aside or varying an order on such terms as are just, including orders made on default (Rules 19.08 and 52.01 (3)). A default judgment debtor who was not properly served with the proceedings may challenge the judg - ment on that basis, provided that the defendant did not participate in the merits of the proceeding or oth - erwise attorn to the jurisdiction of the court by agree - ment or conduct.
In addition, a party can appeal a judgment and – in doing so – will impose an automatic stay of a money judgment in some provinces, such as Ontario. Gener - ally, a judgment creditor cannot successfully pursue enforcement of a domestic judgment until at least the initial appeal rights have been exhausted. However, once a judgment debtor loses an appeal, there is no further automatic stay, nor a further appeal as of right; appeals to the Supreme Court of Canada are only available with the leave of that court. Judgment debt - or appellants facing money judgments must generally post security before the judgment can be appealed. Enforcement may also be challenged on the basis that the assets being targeted by the judgment credi - tor are not properly available for execution because they are not considered to be assets of the judgment debtor (they are the assets of a related party or are somehow immune from seizure, etc). Such scenarios tend to be highly fact-specific and are often complex – see Yaiguaje v Chevron Corporation , 2018 ONCA 472, leave to appeal to SCC refused (2018) SCCA No 255; Belokon v Kyrgyz Republic , 2016 ONCA 981, leave to appeal to SCC refused 37460 and 37463 (15 June 2017). 2.6 Unenforceable Domestic Judgments Generally, domestic judgments will be enforced, sub - ject to the grounds to challenge enforcement set out in 2.5 Challenging Enforcement of Domestic Judg- ments . 2.7 Register of Domestic Judgments Canada does not have a central register of all judg - ments, but execution and judgment searches can be carried out on a province-by-province basis. A judg - ment debtor who has paid a creditor in full can obtain a satisfaction piece for filing in the court. This is a formal court document acknowledging that the debtor has paid the creditor in full satisfaction of the judg - ment.
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