Category / Law and ethics

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Undercover blues

FeatureAfter going incognito for her Maid for a Month series, Jan Wong faces a deceit and invasion of privacy suit. So, asks Carolyn Morris in this feature in the Ryerson Review of…
Exploring the media’s right to offend

ForumLegal, human rights and media experts from across Canada gathered in Halifax on November 1, 2008 to discuss the limits on what Canadians can say and publish about sensitive issues such as…
Defamatory email costs sender $7,800

NewsAn email containing “malicious gossip” has cost the sender $7,800 in an out-of-court settlement, even though it was directed to only one recepient. The case is a reminder to journalists to be…
Online hate best left to police: Expert

NewsParliament should repeal the Canadian Human Rights Commission’s power to investigate online hate messages, leaving such probes to police, prosecutors and Internet service providers, says a report released in November 2008. “Censorship…
Undercover cops cripple press freedom

FeatureCanada’s major police forces have assigned officers to pose as journalists or would consider doing so to combat crime. Journalists condemn the practice, saying it undermines their credibility and threatens freedom of…
N.S. courts withdraw media accreditation plan

NewsNova Scotia’s courts have withdrawn a controversial plan to accredit journalists and mete out unspecified punishment to journalists deemed to have violated guidelines on access to hearings and documents. It marked the…
What’s in a name? A lot

CommentaryPrime Minister Stephen Harper campaigned on a promise to lift the publication ban on the identities of young people convicted of serious violent offences. Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act as it…
Bail hearing ban reinstated

NewsAlberta’s Court of Appeal has overturned a ruling that would have ended the practice of banning publication of evidence heard at bail hearings at the request of a defendant. A lower court…
Access court challenge

While everyone has a protected right to speak to government, including the right to request information, do citizens (including journalists) have a correlative Charter right to an answer from government? The Supreme…
Libel law flawed despite reforms

CommentaryTwo recent media victories in defamation cases do little to fix an underlying problem: Canada’s libel laws favour protecting reputations over free speech, lawyer and Humber College media law instructor Alan Shanoff…