PUBLISHING Defined.

286. Publishing a libel is exhibiting it in public, or causing it to be read or seen, or showing or delivering it, or causing it to be shown or delivered, with a view to its being read or seen by the person defamed or by any other person.

PUBLISHING UPON INVITATION.

287. No one commits an offence by publishing defamatory matter on the invitation or challenge of the person defamed thereby, nor if it is necessary to publish such defamatory matter in order to refute some other defamatory statement published by that person concerning the alleged offender, if such defamatory matter is believed to be true, and is relevant to the invitation, challenge or the required refutation, and the publishing does not in manner or extent exceed what is reasonably sufficient for the occasion.

PUBLISHING IN COURTS, ETC., ETC., ETC.

288. No one commits an offence by publishing any defamatory matter, in any proceedings held before or under the authority of any court exercising judicial authority, or in any inquiry made under the authority of any statute or by order of her Majesty, or of any of the departments of Government, Dominion or provincial.

PUBLISHING PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS, ETC., ETC.

289. No one commits an offence by publishing to either the Senate or House of Commons, or to any Legislative Council, Legislative Assembly or House of Assembly, defamatory matter contained in a petition to the Senate, or House of Commons, or to any such Council or Assembly, or by publishing by order or under the authority of the Senate or House of Commons, or of any such Council or Assembly, any paper containing defamatory matter or by publishing, in good faith and without ill-will to the person defamed, any extract from or abstract of any such paper.

See's. 705, post, and ss. 6 & 7, c. 163, R. S. C. p. 306, post. PROCEEDINGS OF Parliament and COURTS, ETC., 51-52 V. c. 64 (IMP.).

290. No one commits an offence by publishing in good faith, for the information of the public, a fair report of the proceedings of the Senate or House of Commons, or any committee thereof, or of any such Council or Assembly, or any committee thereof, or of the public proceedings preliminary or final heard before any court exercising judicial authority, nor by publishing, in good faith, any fair comment upon any such proceedings.

PROCEEDINGS OF PUBLIC MEETINGS (New).

291. No one commits an offence by publishing in good faith, in a newspaper, a fair report of the proceedings of any public meeting if the meeting is lawfully convened for a lawful purpose and open to the public, and if such report is fair and accurate, and if the publication of the matter complained of is for the public benefit, and if the defendant does not refuse to insert in a conspicuous place in the newspaper in which the report appeared a reasonable letter or document of explanation or contradiction by or on behalf of the prosecutor.

FAIR DISCUSSION.

292. No one commits an offence by publishing any defamatory matter which he, on reasonable grounds, believes to be true, and which is relevant to any subject of public interest, the public discussion of which is for the public benefit.

FAIR COMMENT.

293. No one commits an offence by publishing fair comments upon the public conduct of a person who takes part in public affairs.

2. No one commits an offence by publishing fair comments on any published book or other literary production, or any composition or work of art or performance publicly exhibited, or any other communication made to the public on any subject, if such comments are confined to criticism on such book or literary production, composition, work of art, performance or communication.

SEEKING REMEDY FOR GRIEVANCE.

294. No one commits an offence by publishing defamatory matter for the purpose, in good faith, of seeking remedy or redress for any private or public wrong or grievance from a person who has, or is reasonably believed by the person publishing to have, the right or be under obligation to remedy or redress such wrong or grievance, if the defamatory matter is believed by him to be true, and is relevant to the remedy or redress sought, and such publishing does not in manner or extent exceed what is reasonably sufficient for the occasion.

ANSWER TO INQUIRIES.

295. No one commits an offence by publishing, in answer to inquiries made of him, defamatory matter relating to some subject as to which the person by whom, or on whose behalf, the inquiry is made has, or on reasonable grounds is believed by the person publishing to have, an interest in knowing the truth, if such matter is published for the purpose, in good faith, of giving information in respect thereof to that person, and if such defamatory matter is believed to be true, and is relevant to the inquiries made, and also if such publishing does not in manner or extent exceed what is reasonably sufficient for the occasion.

GIVING INFORMATION.

296. No one commits an offence by publishing to another person defamatory matter for the purpose of giving information to that person with respect to some subject as to which he has, or is, on reasonable grounds, believed to have, such an interest in knowing the truth as to make the conduct of the person giving the information reasonable under the circumstances: Provided that such defamatory matter is relevant to such subject, and that it is either true, or is made without ill-will to the person defamed, and in the belief, on reasonable grounds, that it is true.

See Coxhead v. Richards, 2 C. B. 569; Robshaw v. Smith, 38 L. T. N. S. 424; R. v. Perry, 15 Cox, 169.

RESPONSIBILITY OF PROPRIETOR OF NEWSPAPER OR OF SELLER OF A LIBEL.

297. Every proprietor of any newspaper is presumed to be criminally responsible for defamatory matter inserted and published therein, but such

presumption may be rebutted by proof that the particular defamatory matter was inserted in such newspaper without such proprietor's cognizance, and without negligence on his part.

2 General authority given to the person actually inserting such defamatory matter to manage or conduct, as editor or otherwise, such newspaper, and to insert therein what he in his discretion thinks fit, shall not be negligence within this section unless it be proved that the proprietor, when originally giving such general authority, meant that it should extend to inserting and publishing defamatory matter, or continued such general authority knowing that it had been exercised by inserting defamatory matter in any number or part of such newspaper.

3. No one is guilty of an offence by selling any number or part of such newspaper, unless he knew either that such number or part contained defamatory matter, or that defamatory matter was habitually contained in such newspaper. R. S. C. c. 163, s. 5 (Amended).

298. No one commits an offence by selling any book, magazine, pamphlet or other thing, whether forming part of any periodical or not, although the same contains defamatory matter, if, at the time of such sale, he did not know that such defamatory matter was contained in such book, magazine, pamphlet or other thing.

2. The sale by a servant of any book, magazine, pamphlet or other thing, whether periodical or not, shall not make his employer criminally responsible in respect of defamatory matter contained therein unless it be proved that such employer authorized such sale knowing that such book, magazine, pamphlet or other thing contained defamatory matter, or, in case of a number or part of a periodical, that defamatory matter was habitually contained in such periodical.

WHEN TRUTH IS A DEFENCE.

299. It shall be a defence to an indictment or information for a defamatory libel that the publishing of the defamatory matter in the manner in which it was published was for the public benefit at the time when it was published, and that the matter itself was true. R. S. C. c. 163, s. 4.

See s. 634, p. 305, post.

EXTORTION BY DEFAMATORY LIBEL.

300. Every one is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to two years'. imprisonment, or to a fine not exceeding six hundred dollars, or to both, who publishes or threatens to publish, or offers to abstain from publishing, or offers to prevent the publishing of, a defamatory libel with intent to extort any money or to induce any person to confer upon or procure for any person any appointment or office of profit or trust, or in consequence of any person having been refused "any such money," appointment or office. R. S. C. c. 163, s. 1 (Amended). 6-7 V. c. 96, s. 3 (Imp.).

PUNISHMENT OF DEFAMATORY LIBEL WITH SCIENTER.

301. Every one is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to two years' imprisonment or to a fine not exceeding four hundred dollars, or to both, who publishes any defamatory libel knowing the same to be false. R. S. C. 163, s. 2.

PUNISHMENT OF DEFAMATORY LIBEL.

302. Every one is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to one year's imprisonment, or to a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars, or to both, who publishes any defamatory libel. R. S. C. c. 163, s. 3.

All of these sections from s. 285 are taken, with the exception of s. 291, from the Imperial Draft Code of 1879, which the commissioners reported to be a re-enactment of the existing law. On ss. 297 & 298 they remark, however, that they have made some alteration so as to meet a difference of judicial opinion on the construction of the corresponding enactments in 6 & 7 V. c. 96, citing R. v. Holbrook, 4 Q. B. D. 42.

The Imperial statutes on libel by newspapers are 44 & 45 V. c. 60, and 51 & 52 V. c. 64.

The costs of showing cause against a rule for the filing of an information are covered by s. 833, p. 306, post: R. v. Steel, 13 Cox, 159.

Indictment for a falsedefamatory libel.→

that

J. S., unlawfully, and maliciously intending to injure, and prejudice one J. N., and to deprive him of his good name and reputation, and to bring him into public contempt or ridicule and disgrace, on ..., unlawfully and maliciously did write and publish, and cause and procure to be written and published, a false and defamatory libel, in the form of a letter directed to the said J. N. (or, if the publication were in any other manner, omit the words, “in the form,” etc.), containing divers false and defamatory matters and things of and concerning the said J. N., and of and concerning etc., (here insert such of the subjects of the libel as it may be necessary to refer to by the innuendoes, in setting out the libel), according to the tenor and effect following, that is to say (here set out the libel, together with such innuendoes as may be necessary to render it intelligible), he, the said

J. S., then well knowing the said defamatory libel to be false see form H, under s. 611 & s. 615, p. 304, post.

Imprisonment not exceeding two years, and fine, s. 301. If the prosecutor fail to prove the scienter the defendant may nevertheless be convicted of publishing a defamatory libel, and punished by fine, or imprisonment not exceeding one year, or both: s. 302; Boaler v. R. 16 Cox, 488, 21 Q. B. D. 284. The defendant may plead, in addition to the plea of not guilty, that the matters charged were true, and that it was for the public benefit that they should be published, setting forth the particular facts by reason of which the publication was for the public benefit.

The offence of libel is not triable at quarter sessions: 8. 540.

The defendant may allege and prove the truth of the libel, in the manner and subject to the conditions mentioned in 8. 299.

The following may be the form of the special plea: And for a further plea in this behalf, the said J. S. saith that Our Lady the Queen ought not further to prosecute the said indictment against him, because he saith that it is true that (etc., alleging the truth of every libellous part of the publication); and the said J. S. further saith, that before and at the time of the publication in the said indictment mentioned (state here the facts which rendered the publication of benefit to the public); by reason whereof it was for the public benefit that the said matters so charged in the said indictment should be published. And this, etc. This plea may be pleaded with the general issue. Evidence that the identical charges contained in a libel had, before the time of composing and publishing the libel which is the subject of the indictment, appeared in another publication which was brought to the prosecutor's knowledge, and against the publisher of which he took no legal proceedings, is not admissible under this section: R. v. Newman Dears. 85, 1 E. & B. 268. Where the plea con