Contempt Proceeding Law and Legal Definition
Contempt proceeding is a proceeding by which a party to an action is enabled to compel obedience to orders, judgments, and decrees rendered in the action which declare the rights to which he is entitled. Such proceedings are summary in nature and sui generis in character. Under some jurisdictions, such proceeding is regarded as an independent proceeding. However, in others, it operates as a part of the suit in which the judgment, decree, or order to be enforced by the proceeding was rendered.
