Little v. Little, (1985) 70 N.S.R.(2d) 63 (CA)

• Judge: Hart, A/C.J.N.S., Macdonald and Pace, JJ.A.
• Court: Supreme Court of Nova Scotia (Canada)
• Case Date: June 20, 1985
• Jurisdiction: Nova Scotia
• Citations: (1985), 70 N.S.R.(2d) 63 (CA)

Little v. Little (1985), 70 N.S.R.(2d) 63 (CA);

    166 A.P.R. 63

MLB headnote and full text

Little v. Little

(S.C.A. 01453)

Indexed As: Little v. Little

Nova Scotia Supreme Court

Appeal Division

Hart, A/C.J.N.S., Macdonald and Pace, JJ.A.

June 20, 1985.

Summary:

A wife petitioning for divorce applied under Rule 19.04 for an order directing the husband's bank to answer certain interrogatories served upon it.

The Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Trial Division, in a judgment reported (1985), 68 N.S.R.(2d) 146; 159 A.P.R. 146, granted the order, where the interrogatories were relevant to the action and did not involve any breach of privilege on the part of the bank. The bank appealed.

The Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Appeal Division, allowed the appeal and set aside the trial judge's order.

Practice - Topic 4677

Discovery - Interrogatories - When available - Non-parties - A trial judge ordered that a bank, a nonparty to a divorce action, answer certain interrogatories - The bank contended that s. 20 of the Evidence Act, R.S.N.S. 1967, c. 94, provided that it was not compellable to answer interrogatories where it was not a party to the action - The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, although finding it unnecessary to decide the point, opined that the trial judge may have erred and stated that the correctness of his decision would have to be determined in a future proceeding.

Statutes Noticed:

Evidence Act, R.S.N.S. 1967, c. 94, sect. 20 [para. 2].

Counsel:

Carman G. McCormick, for the appellant;

The respondent was not represented.

This appeal was heard on June 20, 1985, before Hart, A/C.J.N.S., Macdonald and Pace, JJ.A., of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, Appeal Division.

On June 20, 1985, Hart, A/C.J.N.S., delivered the following judgment orally for the Court of Appeal.