R. v. Numac Oil and Gas Ltd., (1979) 20 A.R. 50 (QB)

• Judge: Dea, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta (Canada)
• Case Date: July 20, 1979
• Citations: (1979), 20 A.R. 50 (QB)

R. v. Numac Oil & Gas Ltd. (1979), 20 A.R. 50 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

R. v. Numac Oil and Gas Ltd.

Indexed As: R. v. Numac Oil and Gas Ltd.

Alberta Court of Queen's Bench

Dea, J.

July 20, 1979.

Summary:

This headnote contains no summary.

Company Law - Topic 7334

Offences - Disclosure of share register - Party or accessory - A company was charged with failure to disclose its share register when requested by a shareholder contrary to section 56(3) of the Companies Act - The request was made to a trust company, which had possession of the register - The trust company contacted the company president, who told it not to produce the register - At trial the defence argued that, because the trust company had possession of the register, it was under a duty to allow inspection and the company was relieved of that duty - The trial judge accepted the argument and dismissed the charges against the company - The Crown appealed on the ground that, even if the company was not principally liable, it was still an accessory to the offence - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench allowed the appeal and ordered a new trial - The Queen's Bench held that a prima facie case was established against the company and that charging the company as a principal offender did not prevent the Crown from proving and obtaining a conviction of the company as an accessory.

Cases Noticed:

R. v. Fulton (1967), 60 W.W.R.(N.S.) 40, refd to. [para. 7].

R. v. Harder, 23 C.R. 295, dist. [para. 14].

R. v. Hoggan (1966), 47 C.R. 256, refd to. [para. 19].

R. v. McLeod and Georgia Straight Publishing Ltd., 6 C.R.N.S. 150, refd to. [para. 22].

R. v. Remillard, [1921] S.C.R. 21, refd to. [para. 22].

R. v. Curran, [1978] 1 W.W.R. 255, refd to. [para. 23].

Statutes Noticed:

Companies Act, R.S.A. 1970, c. 60, sect. 56, sect. 57 [para. 2].

Summary Conviction Act, R.S.A. 1970, c. 355, sect. 4 [para. 6].

Rules Governing Summary Conviction Appeals (Alta.), rule 860.2(2)(c) [para. 9]; rule 860.9 [para. 12].

Criminal Code of Canada, R.S.C. 1970, c. C-34, sect. 510 [para. 15].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Tremeear's Annotated Criminal Code (6th Ed.), pp. 24, 25 [para. 26].

Tremeear's Criminal Annotations (1964-1978), pp. 26, 27 [para. 26].

Counsel:

P. Teasdale, for the appellant;

D.J. Rode, for the respondent.

This case was heard by DEA, J., of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench.

On July 20, 1979, DEA, J., delivered the following judgment: