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Dalhousie Law Journal

Journal

2006

Qualified privilege

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Full-Text Articles in Law

Licence To Publish: Joseph Howe's Contribution To Libel Law In Nova Scotia, Lyndsay M. Campbell Apr 2006

Licence To Publish: Joseph Howe's Contribution To Libel Law In Nova Scotia, Lyndsay M. Campbell

Dalhousie Law Journal

In 1835, Joseph Howe was prosecuted for criminal libel after an attack on the Halifax magistracy appeared in his newspaper I argue that Howe's acquittal flowed from a combination of factors. Howe's newspaper was a reformist, but not radical, voice at a time when criticism of government was becoming legitimate and newspapers were becoming increasingly vociferous, despite uncertainty about how daring they could be. Howe was popular, and the magistrates and prosecution were not. Most remarkably, however, Howe used Starkies 1830 libel treatise to construct a novel defence-qualified privilege-which had considerable exculpatory potential. The judge declined to put it to …


The Impact Of "Chartervalues" And Campbell V. Jones: Is It Now Easier To Establish Qualified Privilege Against Defamation?, Geoffrey Duckworth Apr 2006

The Impact Of "Chartervalues" And Campbell V. Jones: Is It Now Easier To Establish Qualified Privilege Against Defamation?, Geoffrey Duckworth

Dalhousie Law Journal

The purpose of this case comment is to impel a discourse on whether Campbell v. Jones' has "loosened the test" on qualified privilege. In the aftermath of the Court ofAppeal decision, it might be tempting to suggest that Campbell v. Jones means that the defence of qualified privilege is being re-fabricated in light of the advent of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in order to take an expanded account of "Charter values" such as freedom of expression. This case comment adopts the contrary view, and asserts that what Campbell has really done is clarify exactly which type of extraordinary …