A corporation (including a trade union) may be held liable for contempt of court for breach of an undertaking where the breach was committed by an employee acting in the course of employment, even if the specific act was not authorised, provided the conduct was not merely casual, accidental or unintentional. Alternatively, liability may be established where the corporation failed to take all reasonable steps to ensure compliance with the undertaking. The inclusion of the term 'lawful' in an undertaking does not render it uncertain where the court would in any event require lawfulness to be established before finding contempt. An undertaking must be construed in the factual matrix known to both parties, and will not be held ambiguous merely because an unlikely construction can be contended for.
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