Category / Law and ethics

NewsAn Ontario Court of Appeal judge has refused to ban publication of the identity of a priest, acquitted of sexual abuse, when he’s named at a public inquiry examining how authorities responded to widespread allegations of child sexual abuse in…

NewsJournalists who inadvertently violate a publication ban imposed on a court case have not committed a crime, Ontario’s top court says in a January 2007 ruling. Media outlets are ultimately responsible for what gets published and only their bosses can…

FeatureAmerican reporters face an increasing threat of being subpoenaed to testify in federal court. Congress has tried to remedy the problem by proposing reporter’s-privilege legislation, the Free Flow of Information Act of 2006. Alicia Armbruster of Vanderbilt University’s First Amendment…

Commentary The judge handling Robert William Pickton’s murder trial has issued rulings on what journalists can and can’t report, such as the names of undercover police officers and evidence discussed when the jury is not in the courtroom. But these…

CommentaryBritain’s highest court recognizes “responsible journalism” as a defence to libel. Our courts should follow suit to protect solid journalism and the public interest. By Dean Jobb.…

News A British Columbia television station has been fined $2,000 after pleading guilty to violating a court order shielding the identity of an undercover police officer. Kelowna-based CHBC Televisionshowed theofficer with her face obscured, but the court order prohibited the…

NewsSentencing conferences convened by youth court judges are part of the public court process and open to journalists, a Nova Scotia judge ruled in January 2007. But the media can be excluded when concerns arise about confidentiality and the administration…

FeaturePublication bans British Columbia’s courts have imposed on the high-profile murder prosecutions of Robert Pickton and Kelly Ellard have renewed the debate over suppressing information about criminal cases. Media lawyers say judges are too quick to order bans, but defence…

NewsThree Edmonton newspaper reporters who interviewed Thomas Svekla have been ordered to testify at his trial on charges of murdering two prostitutes. In a press release, the Canadian Association of Journalists condemns the move as a threat to journalists’…

FeatureDid the BBC risk running afoul of Britain’s contempt of court laws when it aired an interview with a suspect in the Suffolk prostitute murders? BBC media correspondent Torin Douglas reports.…