Dagenais v. Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dagenais v. Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

Supreme Court of Canada

Argued January 24, 1994

Decided December 8, 1994

Full case name:	Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the National Film Board of Canada v. Lucien Dagenais, Léopold Monette, Joseph Dugas and Robert Radford
Citations:	[1994] 3 S.C.R. 835; 1994 CanLII 39 (S.C.C.); (1994), 120 D.L.R. (4th) 12; (1994), 94 C.C.C. (3d) 289; (1994), 25 C.R.R. (2d) 1; (1994), 34 C.R. (4th) 269; (1994), 76 O.A.C. 81
Prior history:	Judgment for the respondents in the Ontario Court of Appeal.

Holding

Court membership

Chief Justice Antonio Lamer

Puisne Justices Gerard La Forest, Claire L'Heureux-Dubé, John Sopinka, Charles Gonthier, Peter Cory, Beverley McLachlin, Frank Iacobucci, John C. Major

Case opinions

Majority decision by: Lamer C.J.
Joined by: Sopinka, Cory, Iacobucci and Major JJ.
Minority opinion by: McLachlin J.
Dissenting opinion by: Gonthier J.
Dissenting opinion by: La Forest J.
Dissenting opinion by: L'Heureux-Dubé J.	-

Dagenais v. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, [1994] 3 S.C.R. 835 is the leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on publication bans and their relation to the right to freedom of expression under section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It was held that judges have a common law discretionary authority to impose publication bans 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 minimize the violation of rights. It was further held that the media has a right to appeal a decision of a publication ban.

1 Background
2 Opinion of the Court
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] 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 produced a dramatic mini-series, based on the alleged offences of the four men, named "The Boys of St. Vincent", and it was scheduled to be broadcast nation-wide 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 Ontario Court of Appeal 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 appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.