Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never Is, but always To be blest:
The soul, uneasy and confin’d from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.
-Alexander Pope,
An Essay on Man, Epistle I, 1733
This is an update to my earlier post: Ontario court has jurisdiction over internet defamation action, discussing the Court of Appeal for Ontario decision on assumed jurisdiction over an internet defamation action: Banro Corporation v. Les Éditions Écosociété Inc., 2010 ONCA 416 (per Weiler, Blair and Rouleau JJ.A) affirming Banro Corporation v. Éditions Écosociété Inc., 2009 CanLII 7168 (ON S.C.) (per Roberts, J.).
The Supreme Court of Canada today granted leave in the Banro case. Here is the SCC news release:
Les éditions Écosociété Inc. et al. v. Banro Corporation (Ont.) (Civil) (By Leave) (33819)
(The motion to expedite the application for leave to appeal is granted. The application for leave to appeal is granted with costs in the cause. The appeal is to be heard on March 25, 2011, and the schedule for serving and filing the material and any application for leave to intervene shall be set by the Registrar. /
La requête visant à accélérer la procédure de demande d’autorisation d’appel est accordée. La demande d’autorisation d’appel est accordée avec dépens suivant l’issue de la cause. L’appel sera entendu le 25 mars 2011, et l’échéancier pour la signification et le dépôt des documents et pour toute requête en intervention sera fixé par le registraire.)
Coram : McLachlin / Abella / Cromwell
As spring arrives on the vernal equinox, there is hope eternal that The Court will put the jurisdictional planets back into alignment. No less than three separate conflict of laws cases will be argued in the week of March 21st, 2011:
March 21st: Club Resorts Ltd. v. Anna Charron, Estate Trustee of the Estate of Claude Charron, deceased, the said Anna Charron, personally, et al. (Ontario) (Civil) (By Leave) 33606 and Club Resorts Ltd. v. Morgan Van Breda, et al. (Ontario) (Civil) (By Leave) 33692.
March 22, 2011: Richard C. Breeden, et al. v. Conrad Black, et al. (Ontario) (Civil) (By Leave) 33900
March 25, 2011: Les éditions Écosociété Inc., et al. v. Banro Corporation (Civil by Leave) 33819
March 23, 2011 at 11:29 am |
[...] The question of what constitutes “clearly the most appropriate place” to bring an action for defamation in an English court is an issue that Canadian courts have similarly struggled with in recent years. Those familiar with the current “libel tourism” debate – either in the UK or the US – should take note of two recent Canadian decisions: Black v. Breeden, 2010 ONCA 547 and Banro Corporation v. Les Éditions Écosociété Inc, 2010 ONCA 416 (per Weiler, Blair and Rouleau JJ.A) , both of which were argued before the Supreme Court of Canada this week. [...]