Category / Law and ethics

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Cyber libel and Canada’s courts

AnalysisRoger McConchie, a Vancouver lawyer who specializes in libel and privacy issues, has compiled detailed summaries of Canadian court rulings on Internet libel.
Joe Howe, revisited

Book ReviewJoseph Howe, the courageous editor of the Novascotian, has long been the poster-boy for freedom of speech and freedom of the press in Canada. His exposes of government corruption in Halifax…
Expanding the defence of qualified privilege

AnalysisAvoiding a defamation suit can be a tricky business. But a series of rulings, including an influential precedent from Britain’s House of Lords, promises to give the Canadian media more leeway to…
Star appeals $1.5m libel award

NewsThe Toronto Star is appealing a northern Ontario jury’s $1.475 million libel award –one of the highest in Canadian history – over an article describing a wealthy local businessman’s plans to expand…
Anatomy of a libel

FeatureWhen a Toronto broker sues a national newspaper for libel, no one leaves the room smiling. Mary Findlater explores the case of Mark McQueen versus the National Post in the Ryerson Review…
Libel-tourism suffers setback in Canada

CommentaryThe Supreme Court of Canada has denied leave to appeal from the Ontario Court of Appeal decision in the case of Bangoura v. Washington Post. The decision finally decides that Bangoura’s Internet-libel…
New Brunswick’s amateur journalist

FeatureCharles LeBlanc fights for bloggers to share press privileges– and rights. Vanessa Green, writing in the King’s Journalism Review, explores how the Internet is changing the definition of journalist.
Reporters off hook for shielding steriod-use source

NewsTwo San Francisco Chronicle reporters have been cleared of contempt of court for refusing to name a source who leaked secret grand jury testimony about steroid use by major league baseball players.…
Criminal Code publication bans

Quick Reference The Criminal Code of Canada bans the publication or broadcast of certain information as a criminal case proceeds through the courts, including the identities of some witnesses and pre-trial evidence…
The perils of anonymous sources

CommentaryIn the wake of the Maher Arar case, Toronto Star columnist Kelly Toughill looks at the pitfalls reporters and editors face when using anonymous sources. Respected news outlets printed false allegations about…