Archive
28 Jul

Steyn complaint exposes flaw in human rights laws

CommentaryWhile the Canadian Human Rights Commission has concluded that Mark Steyn’s controversial October 2006 Maclean’s piece was “calculated to excite and even offend certain readers,” the commission ruled that doesn’t […]

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28 Jul

Time to abolish blasphemous libel offence

CommentaryEngland has abolished the ancient common law offence of blasphemous libel, but the crime remains on the books in Canada. Until the offence fell into disuse in the 1920s, anyone […]

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15 Jul

Ontario’s courts arguably most closed in country

News The Supreme Court of Canada has described open courts as a “core value” as central to the justice system as the presumption of innocence. Yet at the trial court […]

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15 Jul

Legal system erects barriers to open justice

CommentaryNo one disputes that open courts are a hallmark of a democratic society. But media lawyer Alan Shanoff, writing the June 14, 2008 edition of the Law Times, says it’s time […]

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3 Jul

The right to be ‘wrong-headed’

ByBrian MacLeod RogersMedia Lawyer, Toronto The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in WIC Radio Ltd. v. Simpson (2008 SCC 40) clarifies and strengthens a defence that had fallen into murky […]

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29 Jun

Top court clarifies ‘fair comment’ libel defence

NewsCanada’s highest court has clarified when an opinion is fair commentand protected from a libel suitin a ruling that overturns a libel award against Vancouver radio talk show host Rafe […]

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23 Jun

Spectator photo ruling “patronizing”

By Dean Jobb Memo to the police: Next time, bring your own cameras. A judge has authorized the seizure of 170 photos from the Hamilton Spectator to help the Ontario […]

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17 Jun

Stricter ban on naming violent youths

News and CommentaryYouths convicted of serious crimes like murder, manslaughter and violent sexual assaults will no longer automatically lose their anonymity. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in May that […]

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17 Jun

Judge releases Bernardo video

Toronto (June 11, 2008) — An Ontario judge has released a videotape of a statement convicted murderer Paul Bernado gave to police in 2007 denying involvement in the murder of […]

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17 Jun

Youths can be named pending appeal, court rules

NewsA group of Nova Scotia media outlets has successfully challenged a ruling that allowed a young man convicted of murdering a cab driver to have his identity shielded pending an […]

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