Talk:Contempt of court
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[edit] A criminal offence?
As per the edit discussion between myself and Silverhelm, is contempt of court a criminal offence in English Law? I don't believe that it is; the power to penalise for it arises not as a sentencing power but from either (a) the inherent common law jurisdiction of a court of record or (b) the Magistrates' statutory power in section 12 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, which as far as I know does not create a criminal offence (though I haven't seen the text itself).
Silverhelm points out that "the statement is explicitly contradicted by other parts of the article". I presume that he/she is referring to mention of such things as "criminal contempt of court" and "criminal proceedings" later in the article, but neither of these is truly an explicit contradiction. It may be that those references will have to be reviewed as well. --Ross UK 18:44, 26 December 2006 (UTC)
- This seems to be related so I'm talking here instead of a separate thread. I believe the paragraph:
In English law (a common law jurisdiction) the law on contempt is partly set out in case law, and partly specified in the Contempt of Court Act 1981. Contempt may be a criminal or civil offence.
contradicts the sentence:
Contempt of court is not a criminal offence in English law.
Hence I added the {{contradict}} template. -- Paddu 19:35, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
[edit] problems
Not mentioned in the article is that many contempt of court charges and hearing seem to violate the legal principle nemo iudex in sua causa, no man shall be a judge in his own cause, as the judge/court subject to the contempt also punishes the contempt - the same is true with some parliaments and Contempt of Parliament, but not with the U.S. and Contempt of Congress (which requires a conviction by a jury, not by congress). - Matthew238 03:55, 10 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] About completeness
This article only deals with the contempt of court in the UK and USA, ignoring many countries which do practice common law. Hope someone will add contempt of court in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by RekishiEJ (talk • contribs) 04:29, 21 December 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Also not mentioned
Nowhere in the article does it directly deal with the most common form of Contempt of court: Refusal to testify under a subpoena. It's of course been in the headlines recently with Barry Bonds' trainer, Greg Anderson who was repeatedly sent to prison for refusing to testify under a court order in the BALCO steroids investigation as far as Bonds was concerned and was suddenly ordered to be released from jail once his testimony was no longer needed for legal proceedings. I think this a very significant topic not being addressed here, with or without said example.
- Alan 24.184.184.177 (talk) 13:51, 3 February 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Punishment for contempt
The article states that in Canada a person who is found to be in contempt can "be imprisoned for a period of less than five years or until the person complies with the order". Can anyone clairify a little?
Does that mean the person can be held for as long as he refuses to comply, up to a maximum of five years? Or does it mean that, having refused to comply with an order of the court, the person has committed a crime punishable by up to five years imprisionment, but that he can continue to be held indefinately even after that period if he remains in defiance of the order (the contempt has not been purged)?
Stevecudmore (talk) 16:27, 23 February 2008 (UTC)
[edit] sub judice
should be mentioned, as its redirected here —Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.237.66.176 (talk) 11:17, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
