Case information

Civil procedure — Defamation lawsuit — Delay in serving lawsuit to respondent — Action dismissed since prescribed — Allegations of mistreatment by applicant — Can the respondent’s lawyer ignore that the applicant wishes to correspond in English? — Can the courts treat the applicant the way they did? — Is there leniency for minor errors and disabled or sick parties in court? — Can the Court of Appeal dismiss the applicant’s case if he suffered an injury preventing him from attending court even after notifying the clerk? — Can the respondent’s lawyer choose the court room, judge and date without the applicant’s permission in the Superior Court and Court of Appeal? — Did the Superior Court and the Court of Appeal act within the provisions of the law? — Civil Code of Québec, arts. 2892, 2929.

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.

On June 14, 2023, an article was published about the applicant, Rayan Hashem, by the respondent, Francis Pilon. One year later, on June 14, 2024, the applicant filed a defamation lawsuit against the respondent. The lawsuit was served on the respondent 90 days later, on September 13, 2024. The Superior Court of Quebec dismissed the applicant’s lawsuit since it was prescribed. The applicant appealed the decision, and the respondent filed a motion to dismiss the appeal. The Court of Appeal of Quebec granted the respondent’s motion and dismissed the appeal. It found that the applicant’s lawsuit was prescribed since it was served outside the prescribed delay of 60 days for notification. The Court of Appeal also indicated that the applicant did not identify any element in the judgment of the Superior Court that met the standard of overriding and palpable error.