If you have followed the news about a recent BC Court of Appeal
ruling which permitted a high-profile person accused of sexual
assault to bring a defamation case to trial, certain headlines and
article ledes may have you feeling nervous.
The Globe and Mail's report, titled
"Sexual assault accusers not immune to defamation suit, B.C.
court rules," began: "People accused of sexual assault
have a right to sue their accusers for defamation, British
Columbia's top court has ruled, rejecting arguments that such
lawsuits will strike a serious and possibly fatal blow to the
reporting of sexual offences."
Of course, the fact that anyone can attempt to sue anyone else
for defamatory statements would make for a much less compelling
headline. Whether such a case will be taken up by a court or
ultimately be successful is another matter entirely. In the case at
the centre of this media frenzy, a court has yet to decide if the
defendants will be found liable for allegedly
