Supreme Court of Canada – The court made orders for anonymisation of parties to proceedings to protect them from from embarrassment or humiliation.
Wilson J said: ‘It is difficult to imagine a guaranteed right more important to a democratic society than freedom of expression. Indeed a democracy cannot exist without that freedom to express new ideas and to put forward opinions about the functioning of public institutions. The concept of free and uninhibited speech permeates all truly democratic societies and institutions. The vital importance of the concept cannot be over-emphasised.’
Cory J said: ‘Listeners and readers, members of the public have a right to information pertaining to public institutions and particularly the courts. Here the press plays a fundamentally important role. It is exceedingly difficult for many, if not most, people to attend a court trial . . Those who cannot attend rely in large measure upon the press to inform them about court proceedings – the nature of the evidence that was called, the arguments presented, the comments made by the trial judge . . It is only through the press that most individuals can really learn of what is transpiring in the courts. They as listeners or readers have a right to receive this information. Only then can they make an assessment of the institution. Discussion of court cases and constructive criticism of court proceedings is dependent upon the receipt by the public of information as to what transpired in court. Practically speaking, this information can only be obtained from the newspapers or other media.’
Judges:
Wilson, Cory JJ
Citations:
[1989] 2 SCR 1326, 64 DLR (4th) 577, [1990] 1 WWR 577, 103 AR 321, 71 Alta LR (2d) 273, 102 NR 321, [1989] CarswellAlta 198, EYB 1989-66926, JE 90-47, [1989] SCJ No 124 (QL), 18 ACWS (3d) 894, [1989] ACS no 124, 41 CPC (2d) 109, 45 CRR 1
Links:
Jurisdiction:
Canada
Cited by:
Cited – PNM v Times Newspapers Ltd and Others SC 19-Jul-2017
No anonymity for investigation suspect
The claimant had been investigated on an allegation of historic sexual abuse. He had never been charged, but the investigation had continued with others being convicted in a high profile case. He appealed from refusal of orders restricting . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Media, Human Rights
Updated: 08 May 2022; Ref: scu.564188
