Case information

Damages – Quantum – Torts – Libel and slander – Internet publication of a work entitled “The Miscreants’ Global Bust-Out” containing many defamatory words about Mr. Nazerali – What factors are relevant to the assessment of damages in cases of Internet defamation? – Is there a way to interject greater precision in the standard of review for assessing damage awards for defamation than the current subjective criteria of requiring an award of damages to be “inordinately high”? – To what extent is the context in which a defamatory publication is made relevant to a court’s assessment of damages and mitigation? – What deference should a court of appeal show to a trial judge’s assessment of damages, including aggravated damages, in defamation actions?

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

In 2011, a series of articles or chapters forming a work titled “The Miscreants’ Global Bust-Out,” authored by Mark Mitchell, was posted on a website published by Patrick Byrne and owned by Deep Capture LLC. In several chapters throughout this work, there are multiple references to Mr. Nazerali which were found to be defamatory. Mr. Nazerali is a businessman whom the trial judge described as “sophisticated and intelligent […] with wide connections in the business world and throughout his religious community.” Upon learning of this publication, Mr. Nazerali contacted the author and tried to get the work corrected. That proved unsuccessful. Mr. Nazerali then filed a libel suit. The trial judge awarded Mr. Nazerali $400,000 in general damages, $500,000 in aggravated damages, $250,000 in punitive damages and $55,000 in special damages, and granted a permanent injunction restraining the defendants from publishing any defamatory words about Mr. Nazerali. The Court of Appeal upheld all aspects of the judgment except the award for aggravated damages, which it reduced from $500,000 to $200,000, and the permanent injunction, which it varied to apply only to the words previously published and to allow for applications to have it varied.