By Frederick Klein, TotalBiblio Co-Founder
In becoming a law librarian, part of my learning process sometimes involved sticking my nose in law books and writing a précis for the courts. Here, I address the reality of the Internet being an extension of electronic communications as understood in 1965, the last year in which the laws of Quebec in the above matter were significantly updated. In the context of a defamation lawsuit, a plaintiff can reverse the usual venue of procedures, that of the defendant but only if the publication circulates in plaintiff’s district.
My argument was that this simple test, burdened upon the plaintiff had been made too easy by the Internet which circulates everywhere in the world provided the availability of a computer connected to the Internet. Thus, the original intent of the legislator at Quebec City in addition to the test which they required were being pushed to the side or ignored entirely by the flawed judgment rendered by the Honourable Carol Cohen. The existence of the judicial district system was also being endangered by allowing the Internet to homogenize the world, I argued. None of this should be allowed without the involvement of the legislator, I suggested. Otherwise, the courts would be making law instead of interpreting law, as is their function in societies based on the rule of law.
What do you think of my arguments and research? Click on the PDF version above to read my 12-page précis.