Injunctions intro, Quia Timet and Mandatory orders

Question 1

Name the different kinds of injunctions?

Answer 1

• WHAT: An injunction is an order, requiring a person to refrain from or take a cause of action. Temporary or permanent.
  o Prohibitive injunction: must refrain from specified conduct before damage has occurred.
  o Mandatory Injunction: must take positive action to right a wrong or repair damage done.
  o Pre-trial injunctions preserve the status quo until the rights of the parties may be finally determined at trial.
   An interim injunction is valid only for a specified period.
   An interlocutory injunction is binding until trial.
  o Ex parte injunctions: injunctions that are made in the absence of the respondent.
  o Quia timet injunctions: Permanent injunctions that are made before a wrong has been committed. AKA – “since he fears”.

Question 2

What is the general test for an injunction?

Answer 2

TEST FOR AN INJUNCTION: RJR MacDonald
1) A cause of action – substantive cause of action or violation of plaintiff’s rights
2) Damages are inadequate
a. Only available for irreparable harm – several definitions:
i. Damage to a person/property impossible to repair
ii. Damage to an interest not easily economically measurable
iii. Legal wrong causing no financial/economic harm
iv. Damages are ascertainable but unlikely to be recovered
v. A threat to an interest that is so important that a substitutionary remedy is inappropriate
vi. An injury that has not yet occurred or a wrong that is continuing
3) There is no impediment to the court’s discretion
a. The Courts must consider
i. The interest of the plaintiff
ii. The interests and conduct of the defendant. But, the courts won’t have to weigh the concerns of the defendant if they were acting deliberately or wantonly.
iii. Efficacy and efficiency of their own processes
1. Courts are reluctant to make orders that are difficult to define and supervise or unlikely to be obeyed. They want to make injunction orders that will actually be carried out by the defendant.
2. Courts have a desire to decide disputes with finality and to discourse a multiplicity of actions
iv. Determining irreparable harm
v. Defences (bars to receive equitable relief)
1. Unfairness
2. Delay
3. Hardship
4. Public policy considerations