Demeter v. British Pacific Life Insurance Co., Occidental Life Insurance Co. of California and Dominion Life Assurance Co.,

• Jurisdiction: Ontario
• Judge: MacKinnon, A.C.J.O, Zuber and Tarnopolsky, JJ.A.
• Citation: (1984), 7 O.A.C. 143 (CA)
• Court: Court of Appeal (Ontario)
• Date: 06 November 1984

Demeter v. British Pacific Life (1984), 7 O.A.C. 143 (CA)

MLB headnote and full text

Demeter v. British Pacific Life Insurance Company; Demeter v. Occidental Life Insurance Company of California; Demeter v. Dominion Life Assurance Company

Indexed As: Demeter v. British Pacific Life Insurance Co., Occidental Life Insurance Co. of California and Dominion Life Assurance Co.

Ontario Court of Appeal

MacKinnon, A.C.J.O, Zuber and Tarnopolsky, JJ.A.

November 19, 1984.

Summary:

A convicted murderer brought three separate actions against the defendant insurers, claiming as the beneficiary under policies of insurance. The insured was the victim, his wife. The motions court dismissed the actions on the ground of public policy. The murderer appealed.

The Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

Equity - Topic 1483

Equitable principles respecting relief - Clean hands doctrine - Prohibition against profiting from own wrong - The Ontario Court of Appeal affirmed that a convicted murderer could not recover as the beneficiary of his victim's insurance policy, for such would be contrary to the rule on public policy that a person may not benefit from his own crime - See paragraphs 3, 8.

Practice - Topic 5361

Dismissal of action - Grounds - Abuse of legal process - The Ontario Court of Appeal held that the use of a civil action to initiate a collateral attack on a final decision of a criminal court, in an attempt to re-litigate an issue already tried, is an abuse of the process of the court - See paragraphs 4 to 7.

Cases Noticed:

Hollington v. F. Hewthorn & Co. Ltd., [1943] 1 K.B. 587, not folld. [para. 7].

Counsel:

P. Demeter, in person;

Wilson McLean, Q.C., for British Pacific Life Insurance Company, respondent;

John Campbell, Q.C., for Occidental Life Insurance Company of California, respondent;

Brian Edwards, Q.C., for Dominion Life Assurance Company, respondent.

These appeals were heard before MacKinnon, A.C.J.O., Zuber and Tarnopolsky, JJ.A., of the Ontario Court of Appeal on November 6, 1984. The decision of the Court of Appeal was delivered orally by MacKinnon, A.C.J.O., and released on November 19, 1984.