The 16th and 17th century criminal statutes protecting nobility from criticism in England eventually evolved into various categories of political libel (see slander and libel for the modern incarnation of this law). Cases of political libel and eventually damages actions were handled by the infamous Star Chamber until its abolition in 1641. For the online trading card game see Star Chamber The Harbinger Saga. By the end of that century, many elements of the common law of libel had been established.

Modern slander and libel law evolved since then to mostly eradicate the use of libel laws to intimidate active political participants during a public debate. Accordingly this is now a matter of historical interest only in all jurisdictions other than Canada, where use of the law by government, political and religious groups is common, and often used against defendants outside Canada.

Contents 1 No longer exists in most English speaking jurisdictions 2 Canada 2.1 Forum shopping 2.1.1 p2pnet.net 2.2 Religious plaintiffs 2.2.1 Hill v. Scientology 2.3 Political plaintiffs 2.3.1 Martin and Harper 2.3.2 Green Party of Canada 2.3.3 Stephen Harper vs Liberal Party 2.4 Government plaintiffs 2.4.1 Toronto Port Authority 3 References 4 Sources

No longer exists in most English speaking jurisdictions

In most developed countries, a combination of discouragement to vexatious litigation, general recognition of chilling effects, and sometimes formal definition of a strategic lawsuit against public participation, serve to limit politically-motivated libel suits. Vexatious litigation is legal action which is brought regardless of its merits solely to Harass or subdue an Adversary. A Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (" SLAPP " is a Lawsuit or a threat of lawsuit that is intended to intimidate and silence critics by burdening Many attorneys advise strongly against filing any suit against critics with political motivations. The McLibel case is usually cited as libel law backfiring. The McDonald's Restaurants v Morris & Steel, colloquially the McLibel case, was a long-running English court action for Libel

Many jurisdictions established such difficult tests for application of libel law to political statements, even exempting specific types or processes of criticism, that any specifically or overtly political comment has been effectively exempted from tort law:

• Recognizing the chilling effect of such laws, American courts reformed libel law to protect free speech on matters of public interest, where plaintiffs bear onus of proving falsehood, fault and damage. Tort law is the name given to a body of law that creates and provides remedies for civil wrongs that do not arise out of Contractual duties Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without Censorship or Limitation. William McLintock Onus ( Lin Onus) ( December 26, 1948 - October 24, 1996) was a Scottish -Aboriginal Koori Artist of Wiradjuri All statements of opinion are immune from liability. This includes almost all political statements.
• In Australia the traditional common law was deemed to be “tilted too far against free communication. ” (Theophanous p. 20) and courts recognized privileges for political discussion and eventually a new 2006 uniform Defamation Act in Australia.
• The British House of Lords recognized in 2001 a new test for a case-by-case privilege for publications which, though otherwise actionable, dealt with a matter of public concern in a manner which was reasonable and balanced in all the circumstances. The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords" They recognized an obligation to protect journalism. Journalism is the profession of writing or communicating formally employed by publications and broadcasters for the benefit of a particular Community of people
• New Zealand's Defamation Act includes a qualified privilege for non-reckless and non-sentimental statements about political figures. The defense of qualified privilege permits persons in positions of Authority or trust to make statements or relay or report statements that would be considered

Canada

However, the direction of Canadian libel law has markedly differed from that in other English speaking countries. While Canadian lawyers, like those in other countries, advise strongly and publicly against legal intimidation of political critics, the Law of Defamation in Canada notes that the common law of defamation has been described by scholars and judges as “artificial and archaic” and characterized by “absurdities”, “irrationality”, and “minute and barren distinctions” (p. 1-3). Dan Burnett argued that "other “free and democratic societies” have concluded that the traditional common law requires reform" to avoid infringing free expression and political freedom, but Canada has not. Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without Censorship or Limitation. It also inhibits online journalism. Online journalism is defined as the Reporting of facts produced and distributed via the Internet. Burnett says "Internet publication by media outlets opens the door wide to forum shopping, raising concerns that Canada will become a haven for libel plaintiffs who likely would not succeed in their more natural forum. Forum shopping is the informal name given to the practice adopted by some Litigants to get their Legal case heard in the Court thought most likely " Several online journalism forums in Canada have closed or restricted access drastically due to the exposure to nuisance or vexatious litigation. Vexatious litigation is legal action which is brought regardless of its merits solely to Harass or subdue an Adversary.

Forum shopping

The definition of libel deviates so significantly in Canada, particularly English Canada, that plaintiffs outside Canada bring libel suits against non-Canadian defendants such as the New York Post and the Washington Post - a practice known as 'forum shopping'. The New York Post is the 13th-oldest Newspaper published in the United States and generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continually The Washington Post is the largest and most circulated Newspaper in Washington D Forum shopping is the informal name given to the practice adopted by some Litigants to get their Legal case heard in the Court thought most likely Burnett says "they likely have good legal advisers who correctly tell them that Canadian libel laws favour plaintiffs. . . our libel laws are the least protective of free speech in the English-speaking world. "

p2pnet. net

A suit by the founder of Kazaa, based in Australia, was launched against p2pnet. Kazaa Media Desktop (once capitalized as " KaZaA " but now usually written " Kazaa " is a Peer-to-peer File sharing application net, to silence critics of the company and its founder. The case was not however launched in Australia proper but in British Columbia, seemingly an example of this forum shopping.

Religious plaintiffs

While religious figures and movements have recourse to other laws including hate crime legislation, they have made use of the libel law's provisions intended to stop political critics of powerful church figures. Hate crimes (also known as bias motivated crimes) occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her membership in a certain Social group, usually defined

Hill v. Scientology

Despite Canadian adoption of the US-style written Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the 1980s, its courts have rejected US-style limits on libel law. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (also known as The Charter of Rights and Freedoms or simply the Charter) is a Bill of rights entrenched in the While it was neither a political case or one about the freedom of religion, in Hill v. Church of Scientology of Toronto [1995] S. Freedom of religion is the freedom of an individual or community in public or private to manifest religion or belief in teaching practice worship and observance Hill v Church of Scientology of Toronto 2 SCR 1130 was a Libel case against the Church of Scientology, in which the Supreme Court C. J. No. 64, Justice Peter Cory, for the Supreme Court of Canada, stated, “I simply cannot see that the law of defamation is unduly restrictive or inhibiting”. Peter deCarteret Cory, CC, QC, BA, LLB, LLD (born October 25, 1925) was a Puisne judge of the The Supreme Court of Canada ( French: Cour suprême du Canada) is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeal in the Canadian However, other English speaking countries have ruled differently. From about 1994 to 2006, according to Burnett, "the highest courts in England, Australia and New Zealand have all recognized that the traditional law of libel fails to adequately protect free speech, and they have all issued decisions which begin to right the balance. Every one, that is, except Canada. "

Political plaintiffs

An aspect of this favouring of plaintiffs is unconcern with their political position, and the viability of political libel suits from Canada that might fail from elsewhere. In Canada, statements about politics, even from political party leaders in or on the eve of an election, are subject to the same rules of libel as other statements made under other circumstances. Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions

Martin and Harper

Just prior to the Canadian federal election, 2006, then Prime Minister of Canada Paul Martin vowed to sue Leader of the Opposition (Canada) Stephen Harper for stating that the Liberal Party of Canada's behaviour resembled "organized crime". The 2006 Canadian federal election (more formally the 39th General Election) was held on January 23 2006 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the The Prime Minister of Canada ( French: Premier ministre du Canada) is the primary Minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus Paul Edgar Philippe Martin. PC, MP (also known as Paul Martin Jr WikipediaManual of Style (biographies#Honorific prefixes --> Stephen Joseph Harper PC The Liberal Party of Canada ( Parti libéral du Canada) colloquially known as the Grits (originally " Clear Grits " is a major Canadian political "Crime syndicate" redirects here For the DC Comics group of villains see Crime Syndicate. Harper continued to mock Martin during the election with political advertising and public appearances showing money being abused and hinting that Liberals were inclined to steal taxpayers' money by nature. A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group No lawsuit was filed and Harper won the election. However, the attempt to curb the language of the Prime Minister's chief rival on the eve of an election was widely noted.

Green Party of Canada

The "open politics" service openpolitics. The open politics theory combines aspects of the Free software and Open content movements promoting Decision making methods claimed to be more open ca was sued by Wayne Crookes and West Coast Title Search in 2006 for permitting republication of comments and facts made on mailing lists and printed in mainstream news articles, and additional comment on these. Wayne Crookes is a Vancouver businessman and former Green Party organizer As Crookes was deeply involved in the Green Party of Canada and the comments focused solely on this involvement, without mentioning his business activities at all, the case was seemingly another political libel instance. The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal Political party founded in 1983 with around 9000 registered members as of November 2007. The party itself had threatened to file at least one lawsuit during the same election as the Martin-Harper incident, against former staff member Matthew Pollesel. While the Party claimed that suits were in response to reports in the press and Elections Canada regarding the party's internal finances, nothing was ever filed when Pollesel's lawyer notified the Green Party that, under Canadian libel law, an organization cannot be libeled. Elections Canada is an independent non-partisan agency reporting directly to the Parliament of Canada. The threatened suit, however, had the effect of demonstrating that its purpose had been to suppress political comment during the election, and not an attempt to recover any actual damages from any actual harms suffered.

Stephen Harper vs Liberal Party

PM Stephen Harper launched a lawsuit March 13, 2008 against the Liberals over statements published on the party's website concerning the Chuck Cadman affair. WikipediaManual of Style (biographies#Honorific prefixes --> Stephen Joseph Harper PC Events 1138 - Cardinal Gregorio Conti is elected Antipope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common The Liberal Party of Canada ( Parti libéral du Canada) colloquially known as the Grits (originally " Clear Grits " is a major Canadian political Charles "Chuck" Cadman ( February 21, 1948 &ndash July 9, 2005) was a Canadian politician and Member of This was the first time a sitting prime minister had sued the opposition for libel. The $2. 5-million suit names the Liberal party, the Federal Liberal Agency of Canada and the unnamed author, or authors, of the statements published on the Liberal website two weeks ago. The articles at the centre of the lawsuit are headlined "Harper knew of Conservative bribery" and "Harper must come clean about allegations of Conservative Bribery." Those statements question Stephen Harper's alleged involvement in financial "offers" made to Cadman to sway his vote in a crucial 2005 Commons showdown. The suit filed Thursday in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice does not name Liberal Leader Stephane Dion or MPs Ralph Goodale and Michael Ignatieff - whom Harper also threatened to sue last week. Stéphane Maurice Dion PC not change it to "Liberal"! --> MP Ralph Edward Goodale, PC, MP (born October 5, 1949, in Regina Saskatchewan) was Canada 's Minister of Finance Michael Grant Ignatieff, MP (/ɪgˈnatʃəf/ (born May 12, 1947 in Toronto) is a Public intellectual, Historian, ^[1]

Dona Cadman says that prior to the May 2005 Budget vote, Tom Flanagan and Doug Finley, two Conservative Party officials, offered her husband, Chuck Cadman, a million-dollar life insurance policy in exchange for his vote to bring down the Liberal government. Dona Cadman is the widow of former Canadian Member of Parliament Chuck Cadman. Thomas Eugene Flanagan is an Americo-Canadian writer and professor of political science at the University of Calgary in Alberta Canada The Conservative Party of Canada ( Parti conservateur du Canada) colloquially known as the " Tories " is a conservative ^[2] An audio tape suggests then-opposition leader Stephen Harper was not only aware of a financial offer to Chuck Cadman but gave it his personal approval. WikipediaManual of Style (biographies#Honorific prefixes --> Stephen Joseph Harper PC ^[3][4]

Government plaintiffs

Government agencies in Canada have also sometimes used the law against their critics.

Toronto Port Authority

In 2006 the Toronto Port Authority (a quasi-Federal Government agency) started against a neighbourhood residents group - Community Air. Toronto Port Authority (TPA is a Port Authority responsible for all activities in the Port of Toronto, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Community Air is a non-profit resident association in the city of Toronto, Canada that seeks to have the Toronto City Centre Airport shut down The group opposed the Port Authority's support for expanded service at the downtown Toronto City Centre Airport. Toronto/City Centre Airport, (TCCA, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada is a small Airport located on the Toronto Islands. The suit claims that the agency and its executive board has been defamed by comments posted on the advocacy groups website. This has also been called a SLAPP suit. A Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (" SLAPP " is a Lawsuit or a threat of lawsuit that is intended to intimidate and silence critics by burdening

References

Sources

• Lawyers Weekly article by Dan Burnett, October 27, 2006.
• Law of Defamation in Canada, Brown
• American cases demonstrating restrictive US definition of libel: Gertz v. Welch, 418 U. S. 323, Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co. , 497 U. S. 1, New York Times v. Sullivan, 376 U. S. 254.
• Australian cases: Theophanous v. The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd. (1994), 124 Aust. L. R. 1 (H. C. ) and Lange v. Australian Broadcasting (1997) 145 A. L. R. 96 (H. C. A. ).
• English cases: Jameel v. Wall Street Journal [2006] UKHL 44
• Canadian cases:
  • We are all journalists now, column by Michael Geist, published in Toronto Star, June 5, 2006 and also republished by the British Broadcasting Corporation
  • GPC whistleblower crisis, 2006
  • GPC Council crisis
  • Crookes versus openpolitics, filed in BC Superior Court, May 2006

• NZ cases: Lange v. Michael Allen Geist (born 11 July 1968) is a Canadian Academic, and the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law The Toronto Star is Canada 's highest-circulation newspaper though its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario. Atkinson [2000] 3 NZLR 385

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