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From Ad IDEM / CMLA
Welcome to the Ad IDEM/Canadian Media Lawyers Association Website
Media law has long been a niche area, but across Canada, the number of media law issues and lawyers is substantial. That led to an initial 1995 meeting of media lawyers across Canada to discuss media law issues. It turned into an annual event, and with Charter decisions and new media issues that have unfolded, every year's conference has dealt with significant new developments.
2012 was our 18th annual conference, and once again it was bursting with information and cutting edge news on media law. That included defamation trial issues, developments regarding confidential sources, privacy law, publication bans, digital media, court openness, copyright developments at the Supreme Court of Canada and in Parliament and more. We were also treated to the latest developments in the UK and USA. Many thanks to all of the presenters and participants for an outstanding conference. This year we chose to reach out to students of both journalism and law from Halifax and Toronto, who attended the conference. That is just part of our commitment to playing a role in creating a network of those interested in free expression issues. Next conference: November 8/9, 2013 in.... Vancouver!
The conference is not all we do. Over the years, we have intervened in a dozen important Supreme Court of Canada appeals on free expression issues and we have made submissions on important legislative and policy developments affecting media and expression, most recently the UK defamation reform Bill, which we see as paving the way for similar reforms in Canada. This year we also have underway an initiative to identify the open court issues and inconsistencies across Canadian provinces and territories, and we will be continuing that effort with the aim of improving open court best practices nationally.
And a word about this website:
As a way of raising awareness of openness and expression issues, we encourage everyone to explore this site, follow our twitter feed @CanMediaLawyers, and if you are a lawyer who principally defends media, contact us to become a member so that you can benefit from our Members Area resources and conference.
Dan Burnett
CMLA President
New Sections
- AdIDEM News Feeds: Topical news picks as well as alerts about Ad IDEM activities. Follow Adidem on:Twitter.:
Events
Dan Henry Accepts Vox Libera Award from Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
December 5, 2012
Vox Libera award winner, Dan Henry, gave a passionate speech before a rapt audience of 500 at the 2012 CJFE Gala
Video of the speech: http://youtu.be/kEHLiXpROoo
Our friend and colleague, Dan Henry, received the CJFE Vox Libera Award for his efforts on behalf of free expression over the past three decades.
After being given a standing ovation upon reaching the podium, Danny gave a barn-burning speech, focused on cameras in the courts. For the complete text and video go to the links above.
2013 Conference
November 8 & 9, 2013
Pan Pacific Hotel,Vancouver, BC
Please click for more details.
New Developments
| May 17, 2013 | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation et al v. Saint John Police Force et al NBQB 167 | |
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| Justice William T. Grant, of the New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench quashed a publication ban, previously granted by a provincial court judge, on the names of the persons searched and of the murder suspect in the on-going investigation into the 2011 murder of Richard Oland.
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| May 1, 2013 | Casses v Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2013 BCCA 200 | |
| The BC Court of Appeal has rejected an attempt by a plaintiff surgeon to restrict a defamation action to narrow pleaded meanings (such as "was negligent in his treatment of Edith Backer") and has upheld a defence that pleaded different meanings and particulars of other surgical cases raising competence issues.
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| April 26, 2013 | UK Defamation Act 2013 | |
| The Defamation Act has completed all its Parliamentary stages and received Royal Assent. The Act is expected to be brought into force later this year. For a precis of the relevant provisions of the Act, and to see a copy of the Act, click on the title.
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| April 15, 2013 | Ontario Court of Justice and Superior Court Policies Regarding Access to Digital Audio Recordings (April 15 2013) | |
| Effective April 15th, 2013, the Ontario Court of Justice and Superior Court adopted new policies that make copies of digital court recordings, of matters heard in open court, available to the media, members of the public, counsel, litigants, and the accused.
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| April 15, 2013 | Quebec Guidelines concerning the use of technological devices in courtrooms April 2013 | |
| Effective April 15th, 2013, the Quebec courts have adopted new guidelines concerning the use of electronic devices in courtrooms. No one is allowed to email, tweet or text from inside the courtrooms.
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| March 27, 2013 | 1654776 Ontario Limited v. Stewart 2013 ONCA 184 | |
| The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court decision which ruled that a journalist should not be required to disclose the identity of confidential sources.
"The public interest in promoting compliance with the disclosure regime regulated by the Securities Act can be adequately served without granting disclosure."
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| March 25, 2013 | Asselin v. McDougall 2013 ONSC 1716 | |
| Madam Justice Toscano Roccamo of the Ontario Superior Court rejects an application for an interim injunction in this defamation action, in which the plaintiff is suing the defendants for defamation under the Simplified Procedure over two videos and comments made by the defendant and others on YouTube in relation to the videos.
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| March 12, 2013 | The Queen v. Luka Rocco Magnotta, Court of Quebec - Criminal Division, 2013 03 12 | |
| The court rejected a motion to hear a preliminary hearing in camera in a high profile murder case where the defense raised concerns about the mental health of the accused and the possibility that foreign media might breach the publication ban. The court sided with openness and refused to go in camera.
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| March 1, 2013 | Ontario Court of Justice Protocol Regarding the Use of Electronic Communication Devices in Court Proceedings (March 1, 2013) | |
| Effective March 1st, 2013, the use of electronic communication devices (computers, personal electronic and digital devices, and mobile, cellular and smart phones) in silent or vibrate mode is permitted, with certain exceptions.
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| February 27, 2013 | Saskatchewan (Human Rights Commission) v. Whatcott 2013 SCC 11 | |
| Justice Rothstein, on behalf of the Supreme Court, held that "the benefits of the suppression of hate speech and its harmful effects outweigh the detrimental effect of restricting expression which, by its nature, does little to promote the values underlying freedom of expression."
The Court found that, while Section 14(1)(b) of The Saskatchewan Human Rights Code does infringe s. 2(b) of the Charter, the infringement can be justified on the grounds that it "exposes or tends to expose to hatred" a person or class of persons on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination. Rothstein J. also states that "the protection of vulnerable groups from the harmful effect emanating from hate speech is of such importance as to justify the minimal infringement of expression".
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