>From a recent judgement in Canada. -- "We live in a free country where people have as much right to express outrageous and ridiculous opinions as moderate ones." Mr. Justice Ian Binnie, WIC Radio Ltd. v. Simpson, 2008 SCC 40. ------ Posted AT 9:46 PM EDT on 27/06/08 Supreme Court ruling modernizes defence of fair comment
KIRK MAKIN >From Saturday's Globe and Mail OTTAWA — The media should not live in constant fear of facing a libel suit every time a provocative commentary is published or broadcast, the Supreme Court of Canada said on Friday in a major ruling won by controversial Vancouver radio broadcaster Rafe Mair. ------- Canada's highest court has clarified when an opinion is fair comment—and protected from a libel suit—in a ruling that overturns a libel award against Vancouver radio talk show host Rafe Mair. The June 27 ruling, endorsed by all nine judges, acknowledges that "public controversy can be a rough trade and the law needs to accommodate its requirements." An "overly solicitous regard for personal reputation," the court added, should not be permitted "to 'chill' freewheeling debate on matters of public interest." Mair had invoked images of Nazi Germany and the Ku Klux Klan to criticize an activist who sought to ban schoolbooks depicting same-sex parents. ------- The above items are posted just to show how "fair comment" is interpreted by the court in the light of some goanetters saying they are considering "legal options" for comments made in the debate over the recent Goan Convention. eugene
