Newspapers once again find themselves on the losing side of libel suits. On July 13, 2010, in Flood v. Times Newspaper Ltd. [2010] EWCA Civ 804 (“Flood”), the England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) (“EWCA”) overturned the trial decision and held that a newspaper was unable to claim qualified privilege for online reporting [...]

In a previous post on the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Bilski v. Kappos (“Bilski”), I discussed how SCOTUS alluded to the possibility that “business methods” could be patented in the United States – a case that did not outline precisely what kinds of business methods entailed protection. Canadian courts, by contrast, had shut the door [...]

Limits of journalistic press freedom for qualified-privilege and fair comment are hotly debated in jurisdictions around the world as courts try to balance the public interest in freedom of information with private reputational interests battling defamation. Last year, TheCourt covered Grant v. Torstar Corp., 2009 SCC 61 (“Torstar Corp.”), a decision that ranked as the top [...]

In light of what is going on across the pond these days, it behooves us to pay attention to what happens where you fail to separate state and religion. Though to be honest, when your head of state also serves as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, such an exercise might be somewhat difficult. [...]

As mentioned in TheCourt.ca’s first Amici Curaie, today heralds historic changes to the United Kingdom justice system: installed in their swanky new digs, by the time this article goes to print the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom will have already opened. The new Constitutional Reform Act 2005, 2005 C. 4, (the CRA) goes beyond [...]

Nearly 150 years after Canada adopted “a Constitution similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom,” legislators in the UK are contemplating doing the reverse. Recent months have witnessed heightened debate over whether the UK should replace its centuries-old “unwritten constitution” with a written document that more closely resembles Canada’s. Our Kingdom, a project [...]

After a flurry of recent activity, this week proves a bit quieter, with no indication that we should be expecting any Supreme Court decisions to be rendered today or Friday. As such, I thought I’d take the opportunity to lighten our sometimes serious tone here at The Court, and share with our readers a few [...]