Nova Scotia Court of Appeal
Citation: Hatch Ltd. v. Factory Mutual Insurance Company, 2015 NSCA 60
Date: 20150624
Docket: CA 429986
Registry: Halifax
Between:
Hatch Ltd., a body corporate, formerly known as
SGE Acres Limited
Appellant
v.
Factory Mutual Insurance Company, a body corporate, Martin Marietta Materials Canada Limited, a body corporate, Bermingham Construction Limited, Atlantic Sub-Sea Construction and Consulting Incorporated, Beaver Marine Limited, a body corporate, and Dywidag Systems International, Canada, Ltd., a body corporate
Respondents
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Judge: |
The Honourable Justice J.E. (Ted) Scanlan The Honourable Justice Duncan R. Beveridge (dissenting)
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Appeal Heard: |
January 26, 2015, in Halifax, Nova Scotia |
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Subject: |
Litigation privilege |
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Summary: |
The motions judge denied a request by Hatch Ltd. wherein they asked the judge to order disclosure of documents over which there was an assertion of litigation privilege. |
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Issue: |
Did the motions judge err in determining that the materials the applicant sought were protected by litigation privilege? |
Result: |
The majority concluded that the motions judge did not err in law or make a palpable and overriding error in determining that the documents were subject to litigation privilege. Beveridge J.A. (in dissent) would have allowed the appeal on the basis that the motions judge erred in law in her application of the test for litigation privilege. She failed to consider the rationale for the privilege. The respondent did not file a proper Schedule B to its Affidavit Disclosing Documents. Based on the record before the motions judge, its claim for privilege was not sustainable. Appeal dismissed. |
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