Among the firm’s many significant cases in this area are the following:
- We continue to act on resisting publication ban applications, including: R. v. J.S.R. (successfully resisting a publication ban in case relating to the murder of Jane Creba); R. v. Carswell (successfully resisting a publication ban in a case relating to child pornography charges); and Hollinger v. Black (successfully resisting a sealing order on a case relating to documents filed in a civil proceeding)
- We continue to act for clients on access to information requests, including: Application before Ontario Privacy Commissioner for records held by nuclear power generators; Application before Alberta Privacy Commissioner for records relating to lawsuit against Stockwell Day; and Applications before federal Privacy Commissioner relating to records of federally regulated corporations
- We represented one of the parties in the Supreme Court of Canada in the leading Canadian case on the law of defamation. Among other things, the case interpreted the common law of defamation in the context of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, considered the defence of qualified privilege and established principles for awarding damages in such cases, including aggravated and punitive damages. Hill v. Church of Scientology, [1995] 2 S.C.R. 1130.
- We represented one of the defendants at trial and all levels of appeal in a case that was ultimately decided, as a companion case to Hill, in the Supreme Court of Canada. Botiuk v. Toronto Free Press Publications Ltd., [1995] 3 S.C.R. 3.
- We have acted in a number of cases that involved defamatory statements being circulated on the internet. In one such case, we represented the plaintiffs in an action that was commenced against an individual who was using postings on the internet to libel the management team of a corporation and, in so doing, influence the company‘s share price. By means of the proceedings, we were able to put a stop to the objectionable statements.
