Category / Law and ethics

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No libel please, we’re responsible journalists

CommentaryOntario’s highest court has endorsed the British libel defence of “responsible journalism.” The Toronto Star has been quick to take advantage of the new defence and the Supreme Court of Canada is…
Tight-lipped reporter vindicated

NewsToronto (March 18, 2008) — Courts should be extremely cautious about using their contempt powers against journalists who refuse to identify a confidential source, the Ontario Court of Appeal said yesterday in…
Courts and sources

CommentaryA pair of Ontario court rulings recognize that a journalist may need to promise confidentiality to protect a source. But that may not be enough to stop the police and judges from…
Post appeals ruling that curbs source protection

NewsOntario’s highest court has overturned a ruling — the first of its kind in Canada — that granted a journalist the right to protect a confidential source. The Feb. 29, 2008 judgment…
Protect sources, CAJ urges

NewsThe Canadian Association of Journalists is speaking out against court rulings that could compel journalists in Quebec and Ontario to reveal their sources. On Jan. 22, 2008 a federal court judge ordered…
Censorship not the answer

CommentaryEzra Levant of the now-defunct Western Standard and Maclean’s columnist Mark Steyn have been hauled before Canadian human rights commissions. The issue, Halifax journalism professor Kelly Toughill writes in her Jan. 26,…
Bans on the run

CommentaryDean Jobb says it’s time judges and legislators admitted some inconvenient truths about publication bans: there’s little evidence that pre-trial reporting influences verdicts; jury trials have become less common in criminal cases,…
Ruling creates new libel defence of ‘responsible journalism’

Ontario’s highest court has recognized “responsible journalism” as a defence to libel actions in a ruling that promises to set a precedent across the country. J-Source Law Editor Dean Jobb reviews the case…
Man’s name banned in teacher affair

NewsAn Alberta man who had an affair with a teacher 10 years ago, when he was a teenager, cannot have his identity published despite his desire to go public, the Supreme Court of…
U.S. author fights British libel judgment

NewsNovember 8, 2007 — Does the guarantee of free speech in America’s first amendment trump English libel law? That’s the question facing New York’s Court of Appeals this month. Rachel Ehrenfeld, a…