Category / Law and ethics

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Source protection: ‘Disappointing’ ruling has silver lining

CommentaryThe Supreme Court of Canada’s refusal to protect the National Post’s confidential source and grant constitutional protection to all journalists’ sources is “disappointing,” writes Toronto media lawyer Brian MacLeod Rogers. But the…
The upside of the confidential sources ruling

Commentary Don’t let the negative headlines get you down – there’s good news for journalists in the the Supreme Court of Canada’s May 7 ruling in the case of the National Post,…
Ontario news website wins responsible journalism libel verdict

NewsThe new responsible journalism defence has helped an Ontario news website defeat a libel action launched by a man named in a police fraud alert. In one of the first applications of…
Sparks Fly Over Squamish Fire Report

The Squamish Reporter, a local news website, says it was threatened with a lawsuit and asked to reveal the source of a leaked Fire Underwriters Survey after publishing a news story about…
Challenge seeks to stop police posing as reporters

On September 3, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), the CBC and RTNDA Canada, the Association of Electronic Journalists, launched a Charter of Rights and Freedoms application to stop the practice of…
Bail hearing ban upheld in criminal cases

News A sweeping publication ban will continue to be imposed on bail hearings, even when suspects won’t face a jury trial. The Supreme Court of Canada has upheld a Criminal Code provision that…
Bail ban ruling muzzles media, publics right to know

CommentaryThe Supreme Court of Canada’s decision to uphold a sweeping ban on bail hearings is a loss for the public as well as for journalists, J-Source Law Editor Dean Jobb argues in…
‘A huge sea change’ in libel law

CBC journalist Harvey Cashore called December 22 “the most important day in the history of media law” at a Toronto event debating the Supreme Court decision that created a new libel defence.…
B.C. vows improved court file access

NewsBritish Columbia’s attorney general promises sweeping changes to make the province’s courts more open in the wake of a Victoria Times Colonist investigation that exposed inconsistent access practices at courthouse registries. Mike…
B.C. series probes court file access

NewsThe Victoria Times Colonist has published a four-day series exposing glaring inconsistencies in public access to court records at British Columbia courthouses. Some court officials cited a legally flawed, 16-year-old policy similar…