Case information

Civil liability — Defamation — Freedom of the press — Open court principle — Facts reported accurately and in good faith — Civil procedure — Action with no chance of success — Procedure that is frivolous or intended to delay — New evidence — Press Act, CQLR, c. P 19, s. 10 — Code of Civil Procedure, CQLR, c. C 25.01, arts. 51, 380.

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The applicants brought an action in damages for defamatory libel against the respondents, a reporter who had written an article and the newspapers that had published it. The article related a decision in which the Court of Appeal had set aside a guilty finding against the applicants and ordered a stay of proceedings in a case against them concerning the possession and exportation of controlled goods. The applicants alleged that the article did not accurately relate the Court of Appeal’s decision, that it contained defamatory comments and that the respondents had committed a fault in not obtaining their version of the facts. The Superior Court found that the reporter had related the content of the Court of Appeal’s decision accurately and in good faith, without misrepresenting its content, and that the respondents’ application to dismiss the applicants’ action was therefore well founded. Finding that the applicants’ action had no chance of success whatsoever and that their proceeding was clearly unfounded, the court reserved the respondents’ right to claim their fees and disbursements. The Court of Appeal dismissed the applicants’ motion to present new evidence and dismissed their appeal, finding that the documents the applicants wished to produce were irrelevant or did not constitute new evidence, and concluding that the applicants’ action had no chance of success.