''Dagenais v Canadian Broadcasting Corp'',

994 Year 994 ( CMXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * September 15 – Battle of the Orontes: Fatimid forces, under Turkish gener ...

3 S.C.R. 835 is the leading

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

decision on

publication ban A publication ban is a court order which prohibits the public or media from disseminating certain details of an otherwise public judicial proceeding. In Canada, publication bans are most commonly issued when the safety or reputation of a victim o ...

s and their relation to the right to

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

under section 2(b) of the

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...

. It was held that judges have a common law discretionary authority to impose

s on information revealed in a criminal trial. The judge, however, must weigh competing rights, such as freedom of expression and right to a fair trial, to mizzen the violation of rights. It was further held that the media has a right to appeal a decision of a publication ban.

Background

Four former and present members of the Christian Brothers, a Catholic order, were charged with sexual abuse of young boys while they were teachers at an Ontario Catholic school. During their trial the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

produced a dramatic mini-series, based on another sexual abuse scandal at

Mount Cashel Orphanage The Mount Cashel Orphanage, known locally as the Mount Cashel Boys' Home, was a boys' orphanage located in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The orphanage was operated by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, and became infamous for ...

, named '' The Boys of St. Vincent'', and it was scheduled to be broadcast nationwide in the first week of December, 1992. The defence brought an application requesting the jury be charged before the airing of the show or else sequestered over the weekend of the show's airing. The judge declined and instead merely directed the jury to avoid watching the show. The day before the airing the defence applied for an injunction to restrain the CBC from broadcasting the show and from publishing any information relating to the show until the last of the four trials were over. The injunction was granted. On appeal, the Court of Appeal for Ontario upheld the injunction but limited it only to Ontario and Montreal, and overturned the ban on any publicity of the show. The CBC and the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Opinion of the Court

The majority of the Court held that the publication ban was in violation of the freedom of expression under section 2(b) of the Charter.

Aftermath

The Court set out a test for a publication ban to be granted, and this has since become known as the ''Dagenais/Mentuck'' test:canlii.org: "R. v. Larue, 2012 YKSC 15 (CanLII)"
/ref> Smith J stated in a 2014 judgment that:canlii.org: "R v Bourque, 2014 NBQB 263 (CanLII)
2014-12-04

External links

References

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms case law Canadian freedom of expression case law Supreme Court of Canada cases 1994 in Canadian case law Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Publication bans in Canadian case law {{canada-law-stub

Background

Opinion of the Court

Aftermath

See also

External links

References