Canada’s Supreme Court upholds right of defendants to seek ban on reporting of proceedings

Supreme Court upholds right to publication bans

TORONTO — Several media organizations, including The Associated Press, lost an appeal at Canada’s Supreme Court seeking to overturn a law that allows defendants to ask at their bail hearings that reporting about the evidence be banned.

Reporters in Canada may attend bail hearings but cannot report on the evidence if the prosecution or the accused requests an automatic publication ban.

In a 8-1 decision released Thursday, Justice Marie Deschamps, writing for the majority, said the mandatory publication ban is integral to a series of measures designed to foster trial fairness and ensure an expeditious bail hearing.

Paul Schabas, a media lawyer, argued before the high court last November that the media are surrogates for the public in the courtroom and have an obligation to report on the proceedings.