Law Commons^™

Permanent Injunctions In Defamation Actions, Hilary Young

Dalhousie Law Journal

Permanent injunctions prohibiting defamatory speech are increasingly sought and ordered following a finding of liability. This may seem unproblematic since a court will have found the particular speech to be unlawful—defamatory and likely false. However, there are good reasons to be cautious in permanently enjoining defamatory speech. This article shows that courts have recognized a test for permanent injunctions in defamation cases based on a misinterpretation of the case law—a test which is inconsistent with first principles of equitable relief. It then proposes a number of guidelines and principles for permanent injunctive relief in defamation actions. Most proposals relate to …

The Scope Of Canadian Defamation Injunctions, Hilary Young

Dalhousie Law Journal

Free speech is engaged when courts enjoin defamatory or allegedly defamatory speech on an interlocutory or permanent basis. This paper explores the justifiable scope of defamation injunctions and compares that to what courts do.

The study reveals that Canadian defamation injunctions regularly go far beyond what is justifiable. For example, 16% of defamation injunctions involved orders not to speak about the plaintiff at all, which is overbroad since that includes true and otherwise lawful speech. Other orders prohibit saying disparaging (as opposed to unlawful) things—again overbroad. Orders not to defame may be vague because it is unclear whether, in context, …

Defamation In Broadcasting, Keith R. Evans

Dalhousie Law Journal

The law of defamation is not new to the world, nor limited to certain nations: Moses commanded: "Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour." The Far East punished slander. The Twelve Tables of Rome recognized defamation. Early Anglo- Saxon and Germanic laws took a serious view of insult by word or gesture. Punishment included excision of the tongue. In England, a book on libel was written three hundred years ago. Under a French ordinance of the past century the publication of a libel was punished by whipping and on a second offence with death. ' Obviously, the consequences …