Journalist must pay punitive damages following defamatory comments

J
OURNALISTMUSTPAYPUNITIVEDAMAGESFOLLOWINGDEFAMATORY
COMMENTS

LAURENTCARRIÈREANDKARINEJARRY*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,
LLP
L
AWYERS,ANDPATENTANDTRADE-MARKAGENTS
PRECIS:TheSuperiorCourtofQuebechasorderedaCanadianjournalisttopay
C$125,000indamagestoaprominentmemberofSenegalesesocietyafterheposted
defamatorycommentsontheInternetandrepeatedthemonaradioshow.Thecourt
heardthatthejournalistknewthathissourceofinformationwasunreliablebeforeposting
thecomments,buthadgoneaheadnonetheless.
InAbou-KhalilvDiop(2008QCCS1921;2008-05-08)theSuperiorCourtofQuebec
hasawardedC$125,000indamagestoIbrahimAbou-Khalil,aprominentmemberof
Senegalesesociety,fordefamatorycommentspostedontheInternetandrepeated
onaradioshowbyCanadianjournalistJulesDiop.
AsthedefendantlivesinQuebecthesuperiorcourthadjurisdictionoverthematter
pursuanttoSection3134oftheQuebecCivilCode.
OnOctober52005Dioppostedablogentitled“KarimandBiboBourgiaretrafficking
money”.InthepostheclaimedthatAbou-Khalilwasamoneytraffickerarrestedin
April2003atCharlesdeGaulleAiport,PariswiththesonoftheSenegalese
president,asthemenwereallegedlycarrying€8million.Healsoallegedthatthe
SenegalesepresidentpersonallyintervenedwiththeFrenchauthoritiestohavethe
menreleased.
Themorningafterpostinghisblog,Dioprepeatedhisallegationsonaradioshow
airedinSenegalandstatedthathecouldprovethem.Hepublishedasecondblog
onOctober122005,againreferringtoAbou-Khalilandhisallegedillegalcommerce
offoreigncurrency.ThecommentscausedAbou-Khalilmuchharmasheiswell
knowninSenegal,isdecoratedwiththecountry’shighestdistinctionandsitsona
numberofprestigiousboardsofdirectorsthroughouttheworld.



















































©CIPS,2008.*Lawyerandtrade-markagent,LaurentCarrière,isaseniorpartnerwithLEGERROBICRICHARD,
LLP
amultidisciplinaryfirmoflawyers,andpatentandtrademarkagents.KarineJarryisanarticling
studentwiththefirm.Publishedinthe2008-09-04issueofWorldMediaLawReport.Publication
328.052.

2
TheQuebecCivilCodeprovidesnospecificremedyfordamagetoareputation.
Therefore,Section1457ongeneralcivilresponsibilityoutsidecontractual
relationshipsisusedtoprovidethefoundationforsucharemedy.Inorderto
demonstratetheexistenceofaprejudice,theplaintiffmustprovethatthelitigious
commentsweredefamatory.‘Defamation’isdefinedasthecommunicationof
comments,ortheirpublication,thatcausesthesubjectofsuchcommentstolosethe
esteemorconsiderationofothers,orincitesotherstohaveillfeelingstowardshimor
her.Thecommentsareanalyzedaccordingtoanobjectivenorm:wouldthe
commentsinfluenceanordinarycitizenintothinkingthatthesubjectofthecomments
isofillrepute?
Inthepresentcase,Diop’scommentswereundeniablydefamatoryasAbou-Khalil
wasneverarrestedinFranceandhadneverbeeninvolvedincriminalactivity.In
addition,hehadneverbeenimplicatedintheillegalcommerceofforeigncurrencyor
anyotherillegalcommerce.Insum,Diophadfabricatedtheallegationsregarding
Abou-Khalil.Furthermore,beforeDioppostedtheblogentryhefoundoutthatthe
sourceoftheinformationwasunreliable.Theblog,whichisavailablethroughasite
linkedtoFrenchpublicationtheLeNouvelObservateur,isregularlyviewedby
between15,000to25,000Senegaleseandisreferredtoonotherwebsites
worldwide.Infact,DioponceboastedthathewasbetterknowninSenegalthanthe
president.
Thecourtfoundthecommentswerenotonlydefamatory,butwerealsomade
intentionally,asDiopwasawareofthedamagethathisaccusationswouldcauseto
Abou-Khalil’sreputation.Thisgaverisetobothmoralandpunitivedamages
pursuanttoSection1621oftheCivilCodeofQuebec.Asaresult,thecourtawarded
Abou-KhalilC$100,000inmoraldamagesandC$25,000inpunitivedamages.

3
ROBIC,ungroupedavocatsetdagentsdebrevetsetdemarquesdecommerce
vouédepuis1892àlaprotectionetàlavalorisationdelapropriétéintellectuelle
danstouslesdomaines:brevets,dessinsindustrielsetmodèlesutilitaires;marques
decommerce,marquesdecertificationetappellationsdorigine;droitsdauteur,
propriétélittéraireetartistique,droitsvoisinsetdelartisteinterprète;informatique,
logicielsetcircuitsintégrés;biotechnologies,pharmaceutiquesetobtentions
végétales;secretsdecommerce,know-howetconcurrence;licences,franchiseset
transfertsdetechnologies;commerceélectronique,distributionetdroitdesaffaires;
marquage,publicitéetétiquetage;poursuite,litigeetarbitrage;vérificationdiligente
etaudit.ROBIC,agroupoflawyersandofpatentandtrademarkagentsdedicated
since1892totheprotectionandthevalorizationofallfieldsofintellectualproperty:
patents,industrialdesignsandutilitypatents;trademarks,certificationmarksand
indicationsoforigin;copyrightandentertainmentlaw,artistsandperformers,
neighbouringrights;computer,softwareandintegratedcircuits;biotechnologies,
pharmaceuticalsandplantbreeders;tradesecrets,know-how,competitionandanti-
trust;licensing,franchisingandtechnologytransfers;e-commerce,distributionand
businesslaw;marketing,publicityandlabelling;prosecutionlitigationandarbitration;
duediligence.
COPYRIGHTER
IDEASLIVEHERE
ILATOUTDEMÊMEFALLULINVENTER!
LAMAÎTRISEDESINTANGIBLES
LEGERROBICRICHARD
NOSFENÊTRESGRANDESOUVERTESSURLEMONDEDESAFFAIRES
PATENTER
R
ROBIC
ROBIC+DROIT+AFFAIRES+SCIENCES+ARTS
ROBIC++++
ROBIC+LAW+BUSINESS+SCIENCE+ART
THETRADEMARKERGROUP
TRADEMARKER
VOSIDÉESÀLAPORTÉEDUMONDE,DESAFFAIRESÀLAGRANDEURDELA
PLANÈTE
YOURBUSINESSISTHEWORLDOFIDEAS;OURBUSINESSBRINGSYOUR
IDEASTOTHEWORLD